The Curse of the Jelly Babies: You, Me and Thing
by Karen McCombie
Ruby never expected to be friends with a Thing. Nor with Jackson either. Jackson describes Thing as a troll crossed with a fairy crossed with a squirrel. Jackson lives on an estate, next door to Ruby’s stone cottage, which used to be surrounded by trees.
Ruby and Jackson decide to help homeless Thing survive and discover he can speak human, crow and snail, which has twenty-eight words for Eat. But if Thing is annoyed, Thing goes AARRGHH! casting spells which inevitably go wrong. Like the time he filled the loo with cherry tomatoes.
An entertainingly wacky read about an endearing Thing, which unexpectedly brings together nature-loving Ruby and noisy, nose-picking Jackson in a secret quest to protect their new friend.
Publisher: Faber Children's Books
-
Karen McCombie
Karen McCombie is from Aberdeen but now lives in North London with her husband, daughter and one big ginger cat.
Before Karen became a full-time writer she worked for several teen magazines such as Just Seventeen, Bliss and Sugar in a variety roles - everything from Fashion Editor to Features Editor – all very exciting and glam!
Her highly successful series include Ally’s World, Stella Etc and, brand-new for 2008, Sadie Rocks all about two very different twins, Sadie and Sonny…'There have been oodles of books and magazine articles and even TV shows about the psychic links between twins. But the link between the twins in MY book is that they don’t really like each other very much. Sadie is down-to-earth and funny, in a very cynical, sarcastic way, while her brother Sonny is an annoyingly perky stage school brat. Add to that a cat called Dog, a pet Christmas tree, a dad who plays air guitar in public and a friendship with a teenage trainee undertaker and you get the drift…' Karen McCombie, 2008
Karen has sold over one million books in the UK alone and has been translated into 15 languages. The Seventeen Secrets of the Karma Club, Karen’s latest novel, published in June 2008 and follows the success of An Urgent Message of Wowness, published last year.
Karen writes from a specially decorated office in her house complete with beautiful tea rose wallpaper on one wall. In her spare time she walks in Alexandra Palace (the setting for the Ally’s World series) and indulges a rather unusual hobby… belly dancing!
http://www.karenmccombie.co.uk
Karen McCombie Photo: Scholastic
Reading Age: 7+
Interest level: 6+
Send an e-card
