Shadow Forest

An eerie, funny and very exciting fairytale, winner of the Gold Smarties Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award, and shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.

A fascinating and magical tale. This is an outstanding piece of literature

Matt Haig has crafted a children's classic

Clever use of Norwegian folklore skilfully weaves humour and sadness, reality and fantasy, into a tense, page-turning tale, which keeps readers guessing by the many unexpected twists and turns in the plot

Shadow Forest features lots of humour mixed in with with some superbly gross parts (such as exploding heads). Matt Haig's quirky style of writing make this an exciting and most enjoyable read... This book is a definite for any child who enjoys being fully immersed in a world of myth and magic

Matt Haig's first novel for young readers, Shadow Forest, won the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award and the Gold Smarties Award. He is also the author of various adult novels, including the bestsellers The Last Family in England and The Radleys. Reviewers have called his writing 'totally engrossing', 'touching, quirky and macabre' and 'so surprising and strange that it vaults into a realm all of its own'. His books have been translated into 25 languages. He lives in York.

From the bestselling author of A Boy Called Christmas, The Girl Who Saved Christmas, Father Christmas and Me and The Truth Pixie. 
 
*Winner of the Gold Smarties Prize, the Blue Peter Book Award and shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal* 
 
Samuel Blink is the hero of this story, but he doesn't know it yet. 
 
Right now, he and his sister Martha are in the back of his parents' car. He has no idea a giant log is about to fall from the sky and change his life forever. He doesn't know that he and Martha will be forced to move to Norway and eat their Aunt Eda's smelly brown cheese. He hasn't the slightest clue Martha will disappear into the Shadow Forest - a forest full of one-eyed trolls, deadly Truth Pixies, a shadow-stealing witch and the evil Changemaker. 
 
Samuel Blink doesn't know any of this. So don't tell him. It might ruin the book . . . 
 
An eerie, funny and exciting fairytale from multi-award-winning author Matt Haig. 
 
'Fascinating and magical . . . Outstanding' The Times

The Runaway Troll

A wonderfully funny, magical and macabre sequel to Shadow Forest, winner of the Gold Smarties Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award.

Children with a taste for magic and fantasy will find both - and a dollop of humour - in this second tale of Samuel Blink . . . this entertaining thriller oozes comedy and suspense in equal measure

Fast, fun and furious action with a cast of humorous characters and creatures. A runaway hit

It is so good to have a children's book, full of fun and adventure . . . a well-judged adventure for young readers, told in a proper story-teller's voice. Hurrah!

From the bestselling author of A Boy Called Christmas, The Girl Who Saved Christmas, Father Christmas and Me and The Truth Pixie. 
 
Samuel's not allowed to enter Shadow Forest. But what's to stop the forest from coming to him? 
 
There's one thing every troll child dreads more than anything - and that's the Betterer, the evil troll in Shadow Forest who loves to punish his fellow trolls for their grubby and stupid habits in lots of horrible ways. 
 
When one troll boy escapes the forest to be with his favourite human, Samuel Blink, the Betterer isn't happy. Until he realizes that the most useful thing to have in his Bettering Tower would be a real life human child. So he sets out on a quest into the human world to kidnap Samuel and the troll friend he's been hiding in his wardrobe . . .

To Be A Cat

From the winner of the Blue Peter Award, this is a funny, dark and exciting story about what it's like to wake up as a cat!

A clawed masterpiece . . . A book about being comfortable in your own skin rather than someone else's fur

Darkly comic and richly rewarding . . . Shines with originality

I loved To Be A Cat . . . Very funny and surprising

Here is the black comedy that made Matt Haig's Shadow Forest so irresistible

Matt Haig is a British author for children and adults. His memoir Reasons to Stay Alive was a number one bestseller, staying in the British top ten for 46 weeks. His children's novels have won the Smarties Gold Medal, the Blue Peter Book of the Year, been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and nominated for the Carnegie Medal three times. 
 
His books have received praise from Neil Gaiman, Stephen Fry, Jeanette Winterson, Joanne Harris, Patrick Ness, Ian Rankin and SJ Watson, among others. The Guardian summed up his writing as 'funny, clever and quite, quite lovely' by The Times and the New York Times called him 'a writer of great talent'. 
 
He assures us he has never, ever been a cat, despite rumours he was once a rather grumpy ginger moggy named Jeffrey.

From the bestselling author of A Boy Called Christmas, The Girl Who Saved Christmas, Father Christmas and Me and The Truth Pixie. 
 
*'A clawed masterpiece' - Guardian* 
 
Barney Willow's life couldn't get any worse. He's weedy, with sticky-out ears. Horrible Gavin Needle loves tormenting him. And evil headteacher Miss Whipmire seems determined to make Barney's existence a complete misery! Worst of all, Dad has been missing for almost a year - and there's no sign of him ever coming home. 
 
Barney just wants to escape. To find another life. To be a cat, for example. A quiet, lazy cat. Things would be so much easier - wouldn't they? 
 
A darkly funny and adventurous tale from multi-award-winning author Matt Haig.

Matt Haig

A brilliant story that you'll want to read in one sitting

An exciting SF thriller but also a rich and deeply felt exploration of the line that separates humans – creatures of love, passion, fear and hate – from mere organic simulations

It’s a treat to read such a satisfying, complex work

As with Haig’s other crossover novels The Radleys and The Humans, this combines a cracking plot with profound philosophical questions about what it is to be human. Fearless and beautifully written, it confirms Haig as one of our best new writers of speculative fiction

Matt Haig uses words like a tin-opener. We are the tin

Haig brings to life a terrifying and claustrophobic dystopian future. The future we are shown in Echo Boy is dark and disturbing, but there is hope. Hope that whatever terrors await, you can't put out "the irrepressible light" inside a person

Will appeal as much to adults as teenagers . . . Enough action, adventure and tension with a slight dusting of romance to keep anyone enthralled . . . Matt Haig has penned a number of hugely popular adult and young children's novels and if Echo Boy is anything to go by, he's on the way to steal the YA market too . . . It's his unique depth of writing that makes Matt Haig's work such compelling reading

Matt Haig's first young adult novel is a thrilling science-fiction roller-coaster ride. The combination of romance and dystopia may be a familiar concept for young adult fiction, but Haig gives it his own distinctive spin, bringing freshness and a huge amount of imagination to this well-trodden territory . . . Echo Boy will keep young readers on the edge of their seats - but will also leave them with questions and philosophical problems to ponder

An infinitely rewarding novel . . . The futuristic world is imagined in such detail it begins to live before one’s eyes

YA sci-fi fans will love this one . . . Definitely a book I’m going to be recommending

This is strong, relentless stuff. Matt Haig's universe is impressively consistent in every detail. We inescapably inhabit this world. The plot is chillingly taut

Audrey’s father taught her that to stay human in the modern world, she had to build a moat around herself; a moat of books and music, philosophy and dreams. A moat that makes Audrey different from the echoes: sophisticated, emotionless machines, built to resemble humans and to work for human masters. 
 
Daniel is an echo – but he’s not like the others. He feels a connection with Audrey; a feeling Daniel knows he was never designed to have, and cannot explain. And when Audrey is placed in terrible danger, he’s determined to save her. 
 
ECHO BOY is a powerful story about love, loss and what makes us truly human.

Matt Haig

Praise for Echo Boy

Matt Haig is astounding

A highly original page-turner

A brilliant story that you'll want to read in one sitting

Matt Haig is astounding

A highly original page-turner

A brilliant story that you'll want to read in one sitting

Matt Haig is astounding

A highly original page-turner

A brilliant story that you'll want to read in one sitting

Books by Matt Haig

Series by Matt Haig

Shadow Forest

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