The Bed and Breakfast Star
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Cover Story
Our front cover this month features an illutration by Mark Longworth for Gillian Cross's new paperback, The Revenge of the Demon Headmaster. Puffin publish this book in April 1995 (see the Gillian Cross Authorgraph for full details) and we are grateful to them for their help in using this illustration.
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The Bed and Breakfast Star
Nick Sharratt
Elsa's greatest desire is to be a comedienne, and even when a vortex of misfortune and injustice drags her family down into the sumpy underworld of bed and breakfast accommodation, the jokes keep bubbling out from under the murkiness of her experiences and spilling over the pages to mingle with the quirky drawings which share in the narration of this bleak adventure. The writer is uncompromising in her description of the squalor which Elsa's family has to endure (though the denouement might be read as an evasive concession to the demand for a happy ending), but the lasting impression is of the need for solidarity and defiant humour in adversity. Highly recommended for group and individual reading.