Books with author Hilary Mckay

From the winner of the Costa Children's Book Award 2018. Meet Saffy, Indigo, Rose and Caddy Casson. This colourful and hilarious series will make you wish you were part of the family!It's Valentine's Day and everything's changing. Indigo's in love and wants to do something special to win over Sarah, Saffy has a strange new boyfriend who teaches her all about the stars and Caddy has fallen in love and is getting married . . . but not to Michael. With a wedding to plan, promises to uphold and hearts to protect, everything's a little crazier than usual in the Casson household. 'Warm witty and wise' Sunday TelegraphThe first book in the series, Saffy's Angel, won the Whitbread Children's Book Award, and book 3, Permanent Rose, was shortlisted for the same award, celebrating McKay's talent for conveying the anarchic bedlam of family life.

Get to know the Casson family in this effervescent novel that “strikes a lovely balance between humor and poignancy” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).Cadmium Casson is twelve years old the summer that everything changes. Not only are her closest friendships in jeopardy, but her mom is expecting a baby. And when the baby arrives early, Caddy’s world turns upside down. Her mother spends all her time at the hospital, and her father takes over the household, which of course turns into one chaotic (though hilarious) crisis after the next. When her charmingly dense boyfriend dumps her, Caddy is at her wits’ end. Then she discovers that the fragile baby she is so afraid of losing is not an ending, but a beginning for her whole family. And that love and friendship don’t need to be destroyed by change—they can be strengthened. Another refreshingly wise, funny, and poignant novel from the inimitable Hilary McKay.

Rose knows that nothing stays the same forever. Still, it's hard to watch her sisters and brother growing up and moving so far ahead of her. Caddy is back, but she's not living at home. And worse -- she's broken up with Darling Michael. Saffy and Indigo are so busy, they are seldom home. With her father in London and her mother painting in the shed, Rose is often alone in the house. Maybe that's why she agrees to her new friend Molly's crazy scheme. At least it seems crazy when Rose finds herself locked in the zoo at night with a roaring tiger. Maybe she should have been paying more attention to what Molly was saying. But on that spooky night, Rose finds out a secret that just might change everything -- and help bring her family and friends together and new life to their old house. Hilary McKay infuses her charming characters with much love and laughter in this final visit with the delightfully daffy Casson family.

It's Christmas, and the inhabitants of Porridge Hall are suffering from the winter blues. The weather is horrible, Mrs Robinson's ill, and, to top it all off, the Brogan's dog, Old Blanket, dies. So when the children hear the tale of a dolphin sword which brings good fortune, they're determined to track it down . . .Unfortunately, however, Mrs Robinson is in decline, so Ant and Perry are shipped off to stay with Aunt Mabel, while Beany and Sun Dance are left with Mrs Brogan. Aunt Mabel, it transpires, is a silver-haired eccentric living in a menagerie - and not at all what the children expect. Then Sun Dance discovers a burglar, and the mystery of Aunt Mabel is revealed . . .

Those of you who have read Hilary McKay's earlier books, among which are The Exiles, Dog Friday, and Dolphin Luck, will happily welcome her new story, Saffy's Angel. Whether you have read her work or not, you have a special treat in store in Saffy's Angel. You'll meet the four Casson children, whose mother, Eve, a fine-arts painter, has given them the names of paint colors. Cadmium, called Caddy, is the eldest; then comes Saffron, known as Saffy; Indigo, the only boy; and Rose, the youngest. When Saffy discovers quite by accident that she has been adopted, she is deeply upset, though the others assure her it makes no difference at all. Saffy is the daughter of Eve's twin sister, who lived in Siena, Italy, and died in a car crash. Grandad brought Saffy, as a very small child, back from Siena. At Grandad's death, he leaves something to each of the children. To Saffy, it is "her angel," although no one knows its identity. How Saffy discovers what her angel is, with the help of an energetic new friend, lies at the heart of this enchanting story. Unforgettable characters come alive in often deeply humorous and always absorbing events to make a book to be treasured for a long, long time.

From the winner of the Costa Children's Book Award 2018.Binny's life has been difficult since her father died and her dreadful old Aunt Violet disposed of her beloved dog, Max. Her world changed then, to a city flat with not enough space for her Mum, her big sister Clem and her small brother James. Definitely no room for a pet.Then one day Aunt Violet dies, leaving a small cottage in Cornwall to Binny and her family. Binny finds herself in a new world once more, full of sunshine and freedom and Gareth, the enemy-next-door and the ideal companion for dangerous dares. But Max is still lost in the past, and it seems impossible that she'll ever find him again...

Love is in the air . . .The Exiles in Love is the third and final book in the award-winning The Exiles series, with Hilary McKay's trademark wit and warmth.Ruth, Naomi, Rachel and Phoebe Conroy are all struggling to deal with the trials and tribulations of first love(s). Ruth develops a crush on the school bus driver, but finds herself conflicted when she also develops feelings for Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre, the temporary English teacher (who Naomi is also smitten with) AND Alan Adair who works in the butcher's shop.Meanwhile, the younger two sisters have other things on their minds – Rachel is plotting to become May Queen at her school and Phoebe is in training to become an international spy. But when Big Grandma arranges for a French boy called Philippe to stay with the Conroy's, it's not long before all the girls fall head over heels for him as well . . .

The Conroy sisters are back! In Hilary Mckay's second book in The Exiles series, The Exiles at Home, the four delightfully troublesome siblings manage to get themselves into yet more mischief.When Ruth Conroy decides to sponsor a child in Africa, she is unprepared for the monthly monetary commitment and is shocked by how difficult it is to find £10 a month . . . In desperation, she enlists the help of her sisters – but Phoebe, Naomi and Rachel are only too eager to think up eccentric fundraising schemes, including wholly undisciplined and unsuitable baby-sitters, an unhygienic catering service and a fraudulent street artist. Whatever the scheme, their hilarious projects never fail to cause chaos and mayhem.