How Green You Are!

A Cheshire coast town forms the background for ten inter-linked stories. Some unconventional topics---a rabid monkey, a strike, a political refugee---jostle more common ideas like a ghost, old lady/young boy friendship and older siblings' wedding. The book feels a touch dated (author harking back to own childhood?) but several slightly flat endings and occasionally self-conscious narration worry me more. However, such books are still fairly rare; don't sniff till we've dozens better. Useful for promoting anecdote sessions, perhaps. Read with 10-13s in mind, especially Weird George whose literary 'relatives' include Tyke Tiler's Danny and Chris Powling's Mad Eric.