Books with author Hilary Mckay

Nothing ever happens in the conroy family, and when something finally does, the four sisters----Ruth, Naomi, Rachel and Phoebe---are sent to stay with their grandmother for the summer. This sounds like a recipe for disaster: Big Grandma gives orders like a drill sergeant and she keeps no books in the house.The sisters certainly are'nt going to put up with big Grandma's regimen of plenty of fresh air and chores. But in their quest for alternative entertainment, they start to understand the appeal of the life their grandmother has chosen---and she starts to understand them. Are the two generations more alike than they think?

The Exiles was the winner of the 1992 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and is the first novel in Hilary McKay's wonderfully witty and warm The Exiles series.Ruth, Naomi, Rachel and Phoebe Conroy love reading and having fun more than anything else. So the sisters are horrified when they learn that their parents are sending them away to Cumbria for the summer, to stay with their fearsome grandmother: Big Grandma. Big Grandma is strict, makes them do chores and doesn't let them have any fun – but worst of all, she refuses to let the girls read any books. Determined to enjoy their summer, the sisters decide they aren't going to put up with their grandmother's tough regime, and in doing so they somehow manage to cause inordinate amounts of chaos . . . But as the girls search for alternatives to Big Grandma's way of life they slowly start to understand its appeal, just as she starts to understand them. Are the two generations more alike than they think?

It's December, and Robin, his friend Dan, and Sun Dance are laid low with chickenpox. To keep them amused, Robin's mother entertains them with memories of the summer when she was eleven and Nick and Charley stayed at her house. When they met Harriet, a strange, shabbily dressed girl who seemed full of surprises and magic, but remained a mystery, until Sun Dance solves the riddle with a small amber cat . . .

The amazing and hilarious Casson family is back in this all-new novel from award-winning author Hilary McKay.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.

Charlie is an irresistibly funny little brother who manages to get into all kinds of scrapes. Whether he's trying to hinder or help his brother Max and best friend Henry, trouble is guaranteed!Cheese and Onion CrispsHenry knows there's something wrong when Charlie gives up cheese and onion crisps. Will the Truly Amazing Smarties Trick bring things back to normal?Cat FlapCharlie and Henry are planning the best sleepover ever, and have even laid down some ground rules: no itching powder, no dead flies and no super soakers. But the evening doesn't turn out quite how they planned . . .

When Ruth Conroy decides to sponsor a child in Africa, she is unprepared for the difficulties involved in finding GBP10 a month. So she enlists the help of her sisters - Phoebe, Naomi and Rachel - who are only too eager to dream up hare-brained fund-raising schemes ...Undisciplined baby-sitters, unhygienic caterers or fraudulent pavement artists, their hilarious projects never fail to cause chaos and mayhem.