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Tom Fletcher writes 'darkly magic' middle grade novel
McFly band member Tom Fletcher will publish his second middle grade novel for Penguin Random House in time for the Christmas market this October.
The “darkly magical” book, The Creakers, is about monsters under the bed who “snatch grown-ups away”. It will be published on 5th October 2017 and follows his previous bestelling children’s books with the publisher.
Fiction editorial director at PRH Children's, Natalie Doherty, acquired world rights in two novels from Stephanie Thwaites at Curtis Brown.
A PRH spokesperson said: “The Creakers tells the story of Lucy, who wakes up one morning to discover that all the grown-ups in her town have mysteriously disappeared. Determined to find out what happened and to bring them safely home, she discovers they have been snatched away to a spooky and magical world by the monsters under the bed, who have a most unusual motive - the Creakers.”
Doherty described Fletcher as a "writer of huge talent and creativity". She said: “The response to Tom’s fiction debut, The Christmasaurus, was overwhelmingly positive and exciting, and has really established Tom as a leading voice in children’s fiction. He’s a writer of huge talent and creativity, whose enthusiasm for his wonderful characters and stories is evident in every line. We have been consistently excited by his imagination and new ideas over the last five years, from The Dinosaur That Pooped series to The Christmasaurus. The Creakers will be just as much of a treat: inventive, funny, incredibly atmospheric and darkly magical. We can’t wait to share this new story with readers.”
Fletcher said: “After writing The Christmasaurus and getting to meet so many young readers last year, I couldn’t wait to start writing again. I feel very honoured to be able to create new stories for children young and old. Now, we all know that something lives under the bed, it’s a fact. I thought it was time to discover exactly who they are, and what they want. I can’t wait for kids to meet the Creakers...if they’re brave enough.”
Fletcher is one of the UK’s bestselling children’s authors. His most recent title,The Christmasaurus, was one of the biggest middle-grade debuts of last year. It will be will be brought to the stage in a series of sell-out shows for Christmas 2017. He is also one half of the duo behind the Dinosaur That Pooped picture book series, first published in 2012. His new picture book, There’s A Monster in Your Book, will be published on 29th June.
He has sold 1,049,139 books for £4.97m (Nielsen BookScan) including the Dinosaur That Pooped series and McFly-related titles. His first chapter book, The Christmasaurus, illustrated by Shane Devries, sold 161,461 copies netting £1.14m.
