Tiny Tree scoops middle-grade adventure from Treacher

Tiny Tree has scooped Lost In Time, a "time-hopping" middle-grade adventure from author-illustrator Dawn Treacher.

Publisher James Shaw acquired world rights directly from the author following a round of open submissions. The novel will be published in June 2024. 

The synopsis for Lost In Time reads: "For Connie’s Gran, time is shrinking due to dementia, and it’s as if Gramps has a secret he will never tell, but Connie finds living with them pretty ordinary. That is until time itself begins to vanish in front of her eyes…" 

"Thank goodness for her friend, Nevis, a quirky clock shop owner and his one-eyed ginger cat called Captain. With their help, Connie discovers an alarming link between an infestation of white mice and time’s disappearance. Connie’s curiosity thrusts her into a perilous adventure that could unravel the secrets of her past in a world far different from her own. Together with new friends, Connie faces many dangers in search of a way home before her own time runs out."

Treacher commented: "My books are inspired by a single image or character idea. For Lost In Time this was the nursery rhyme, Hickory Dickory Dock. I asked myself why would a mouse run up the clock? What if it was going to steal time? It set me along a path of asking what is time? What happens it you steal it? Is time infinite or can it run out? It opened a whole debate in my mind about how time affects our lives, why is it important and can it control what we do.”