Books with author William J Wayne

It starts with a noise reverberating in the hill. David and Keith see a boy appear from the ground, carrying a candle and beating a drum. He is an 18th-century drummer boy, who will have an irreversible effect on both their lives. Extraordinary things start to happen - standing stones move, giants stalk the hills, and wild boar rampage through the town. Then, David vanishes, and Keith must search through time for his friend...In the forty years since its first publication, "Earthfasts" has become an indispensable classic.

This title continues the classic story that began when an 18th-century drummer boy marched straight out of the past into the present, irrevocably changing the lives of David and Keith. David faces the mystery of a sister who arrives out of the blue, a sister he was told had died at birth. Keith and David now face a very different journey, in which they must both face up to old ghosts from the past.

John Owen returns to the Choir School at the start of term to find that he is the youngest Singing Boy in the school. This means he must also be Beekeeper - a traditional role. One of the traditional duties of the Beekeeper is to sing a solo in the Cathedral. Owen hates and dreads the prospect, so he persuades the smallest boy in the school, Iddingley, to take his place. Then, while exploring one of the Cathedral towers without permission, Owen finds something which makes him change his mind, and solves a mystery which has been baffling people for hundreds of years...This book broke new ground on its publication in 1955, and is now widely regarded as a twentieth-century classic. Our edition retains the original line illustrations by C. Walter Hodges. William Mayne is described in "Twentieth Century Children's Writers" as 'one of the most talented and interesting authors writing for children today.'