Everything with Words lands historical middle-grade adventure by Scott-Elliot

Everything with Words has scooped Sweet Skies, a middle-grade historical adventure from Robin Scott-Elliot.

Editor-at-large Mikka Haugaard acquired world rights to the novel directly from the author. 

Sweet Skies is set during the 1948 Berlin Airlift, the first significant confrontation of the Cold War. It will be published in 2023, to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the event. Part of the inspiration stemmed from Scott-Elliot family’s experiences in post-war Berlin.

"The scene is the shattered German capital, the main characters children battling to survive in a desperate war-torn city," the synopsis states. "To survive you have to be prepared to run risks that sometimes involve not just your own life but those of others, and the voyage of self-discovery is rocky."

The author said: “As a child, my mum lived in Berlin in the early ’50s – my grandad was part of the British occupation army. They were given a large house to live in which had belonged to the Nazi propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels. My mum has some vivid memories of the house and life in Berlin. She remembers the housekeeper’s husband coming home from nearly 10 years in a Russian prison camp. I’ve used some of her experiences in the book – and based a character on her, although I’ve not told her that yet.”  

Haugaard added: “This is an exceptionally well-told thriller— I was captivated by the story, by Robin’s insight into how people work and by his sense of irony. There’s a touch of Graham Greene here.”