Stone Menagerie, The

Description:
Ally really doesn't want to go with his mum on her weekly visit to his fragile aunt Chloe at the big Victorian hospital - until he discovers a hidden garden in the grounds. Here a young homeless couple have made themselves a home. Suddenly Ally begins to discover a new way of looking at the world - and to understand his aunt and some of her sensitivity. But there is another side to the coin, too, and the young couple must also be prepared to adapt to suit their changing circumstances.

Author Biography:
Anne Fine has been an acknowledged top author in the children's book world since her first book was published in the mid 1970s, and has now written more than forty books and won virtually every major award going, including the Carnegie Medal (more than once), the Whitbread Children's Award, the Guardian Children's Fiction Award, the Smarties Prize and others. The Children's Laureate from 2001-2003, Anne is also very funny and young readers love her lack of hypocrisy about the family and her honesty about how people can behave. She lives in the North-East. 'One of the sharpest and most humorous observers of the human condition writing today for the young' School Librarian 'She is translated into 26 languages and has regularly won every major children's literary award in the land, including the Carnegie Medal twice and the Whitbread Children's Novel award twice ... There are few more influential, or more unfailingly intelligent, authors at work' Scotsman 'A subversively wicked gift for exploring family tensions' Independent