Editions

  • Private - Keep Out!
    eBook 2019
  • Private - Keep Out!
    Paperback 2019
Penguin Logo
  • Categories

    Fiction
    • Action & adventure
    • Classics
    • Crime, thrillers & mysteries
    • General fiction
    • Graphic novels
    • Romance
    • Poetry
    • Horror
    • Short stories
    • View all fiction
    Non-fiction
    • Art, architecture & photography
    • Biography
    • Business, economics & law
    • Food & drink
    • Health & lifestyle
    • History
    • Politics & philosophy
    • Science & nature
    • Sport
    • View all non-fiction
    Children's
    • 0 - 18 months
    • 18 months - 3 years
    • 3 - 5 years
    • 5 - 7 years
    • 7 - 9 years
    • 9 - 12 years
    • View all children's

    • Puffin

      Puffin

    • Ladybird

      Ladybird


    • Audiobooks
    • Gifts & boxsets
    • Must-reads of 2019
    • Books to kick-start 2019
  • Authors A-Z

    • A
    • B
    • C
    • D
    • E
    • F
    • G
    • H
    • I
    • J
    • K
    • L
    • M
    • N
    • O
    • P
    • Q
    • R
    • S
    • T
    • U
    • V
    • W
    • X
    • Y
    • Z
    • All Authors A-Z


    Featured Authors

    Lee Child

    Jojo Moyes

    Zadie Smith

    Carlo Rovelli

    Margaret Atwood

    James Patterson

    Yotam Ottolenghi

    Roald Dahl

  • Articles, Games and more...

    Articles
    • Recommendations
    • Features
    • Extracts
    • Quizzes
    • View all articles
    Children's articles
    • Recommendations
    • Extracts
    • Games & activities
    • Quizzes
    • View all children's articles
    Penguin Shop
    • Book bundles
      Book bundles
    • Penguin gifts
      Penguin gifts
    • Signed & special editions
      Signed & special editions
    • Writing workshops
      Writing workshops
    • View all
      View all

    • Events
    • Podcasts
    • Apps

    • Penguin Classics
    • VINTAGE
  • About Penguin Random House UK

    About Us
    • Overview
    • Company history
    • Leadership Team
    • News
    • Blogs
    Work with us
    • Authors
    • Careers
    • Rights and permissions
    • Penguin Living
    • Penguin Ventures
    • Sales & distribution
    • Student Design Award
    Publishing houses
    • Cornerstone
    • Ebury
    • Michael Joseph
    • Penguin General
    • Penguin Press
    • Penguin Random House Audio
    • Penguin Random House Children's
    • Transworld
    • VINTAGE
    Creative Responsibility
    • About Creative Responsibility
    • Reading
    • Community
    • Inclusion
    • Sustainability
    • WriteNow
    • Penguin Talks
    Contact us
    • Offices
    • Media contacts
    • Catalogues
  • Home
  • Children's
  • Private - Keep Out!
Private - Keep Out!
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital

  • Published: 07/03/2019

  • ISBN: 9781473561953

  • Length: 176  Pages

  • RRP: £6.98

Private - Keep Out!

Gwen Grant

  • Paperback
  • Ebook
  • Kobo Itunes Amazon

A forgotten classic brought back into print for the first time in decades - the missing literary sister to Anne of Green Gables and Tracy Beaker, a tough and spirited girl's adventures growing up in a northern post-war mining town.


‘I told our Lucy I’m going to be a writer when I grow up and she said, ‘You should be a good one then. You tell enough lies.’

Psst! We know you shouldn’t really read something labelled ‘private’ but this book is special. It’s written by young girl growing up in a mining town in 1948 who is practising to become a writer when she grows up…possibly. It’s hard work being a writer. There’s no privacy in a house with six kids and there’s no time, especially if you have to go to school and to dancing class (and wear frilly knickers) and Sunday school (and sing about being a sunbeam). You’re supposed to write about what you know, which means this book is about annoying sisters with no sense of humour and brothers who think they know everything, and bullies and chicken spots and being run over. Sometimes you can write about good things that happen, like going to the seaside or Christmas Eve, but mostly the stories end with being sent to bed early in disgrace. But when the writer is a tough, spiky and funny as this one, her adventures will always be worth reading.

  • Imprint: Vintage Digital

  • Published: 07/03/2019

  • ISBN: 9781473561953

  • Length: 176  Pages

  • RRP: £6.98


  • Share at

  • Facebook - facebook Facebook - facebook Facebook - facebook Facebook - facebook
  • Twitter - twitter Twitter - twitter Twitter - twitter Twitter - twitter
  • Pinterest - pinterest Pinterest - pinterest
  • Email - email Email - email
  • Whatsapp - whatsapp Whatsapp - whatsapp

About the Author

Gwen Grant

Gwen Grant was born in 1940 in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, and lives there still. When she was twelve years old, she was Highly Commended in a national competition for her essay on the Cocoa Bean - she has written ever since. Her many books for children include Private - Keep Out, its sequels Knock and Wait and One Way Only; The Lily Pickle Band Book and The Revolutionary's Daughter. She is also a published poet.

Gwen Grant

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, offers and more 

  • Please enter an email.

    Please enter a valid email address

By signing up, I confirm that I'm over 16. To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our Privacy Policy

Thank you for signing up to the Penguin Newsletter

Subscription failed, please try again

About us
  • Our company
  • Work with us
  • Getting published
  • Careers
  • Publishing houses
  • Creative Responsibility
  • Contact us
  • Send website feedback
Useful links
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Accessibility
  • Terms & conditions
  • Help & FAQs
  • Gender pay gap report 2017
  • Industry commitment to professional behaviour
  • Permissions
Stay connected

Follow Penguin

  • Facebook Facebook
  • Instagram Instagram
  • Twitter Twitter
  • Youtube Youtube

Follow Puffin

  • Puffin Facebook Puffin Facebook
  • Puffin Instagram Puffin Instagram
  • Puffin Twitter Puffin Twitter
  • Puffin YouTube Puffin YouTube

Follow Ladybird

  • Ladybird Facebook Ladybird Facebook
  • Ladybird Twitter Ladybird Twitter
  • Ladybird YouTube Ladybird YouTube

Follow Penguin Random House UK

  • @PenguinRHUK Twitter link @PenguinRHUK Twitter link
  • @PenguinRHUK Instagram link @PenguinRHUK Instagram link
  • Penguin Random House YouTube link Penguin Random House YouTube link

© 1995 - 2019

Penguin Books Ltd.

Registered number: 861590 England.

Registered office: 80 Strand, London,

WC2R ORL UK.

Penguin Random House

Penguin Books Limited

A Penguin Random House Company.

We use cookies on this site and by continuing to browse it you agree to us sending you cookies.

For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here.