Autumn has well and truly arrived and so the Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour is heading south in search of warmer climes! We will be taking renowned, heavy-weight author Keith Gray back to his roots, visiting secondary schools across Lincolnshire where he grew up! Keith went from ‘reluctant reader’ at school to award-winning author of books for children and young adults, including The Runner and Ostrich Boys, which was recently adapted for the stage! Keith has published several books with Barrington Stoke, which specialises in quick reads and dyslexia-friendly fiction.

Competition Time

To celebrate Keith’s tour, and the 20th Anniversary of the Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour, we are giving away a free signed copy of one of his latest books Ghosting, a thrilling ghost-story with a twist that will have you on the edge of your seat.

To be in with a chance of winning a free copy of Ghosting, simply answer this question. Which famous ghost lives in the second-floor girl’s bathroom at Hogwarts?

1. Moaning Myrtle
2. Casper The Friendly Ghost
3. Jacob Marley

The closing date is Wednesday 17th October at 12pm. To enter please add your answer as a comment below along with your name, who you would like the book to be dedicated to and email address. View full terms and conditions here.

About Keith Gray

Keith grew up in Cleethorpes before moving to Scotland and was definitely the best tree-climber at school, but probably one of the worst readers. Until he was about twelve years old, he limited his own reading to comics and graphic novels, but one day during his preteen years he picked up a book, The Machine Gunners, by Robert Westall.

His journey took him from reluctant reader, to passionate reader, to a dedicated, award-winning author of books for children and young adults. His first novel, Creepers (1996), was published when he was 24, and was shortlisted for the 1997 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize.

He has gone on to write several award-winning books for children and young adults, including The Runner (1998), which won the Nestle Smarties Book Prize (Silver Award). In 2008 he was the first ever Virtual Writer in Residence for Scottish Book Trust; commissioning and editing short stories by his favourite writers and producing online creative writing videos to encourage young writers everywhere. He now lives and writes in Vienna with his family.

On The Bookshelf

Ostrich Boys

Kenny, Sim and Blake are about to embark on a remarkable journey. Stealing the urn that contains the ashes of their best friend Ross, they set out to travel 261 miles from Cleethorpes on the English east coast to the tiny hamlet of Ross in southern Scotland. After a depressing and dispiriting funeral they feel that taking Ross to Ross will be a fitting memorial for a fifteen year-old boy who changed all their lives through his friendship.

Ghosting

Nat and his sister Sandy help the living contact the dead. But they don’t believe in the ghosts they pretend to speak to. So imagine their surprise when the dead start talking back…and they discover that the dead are the least of their problems…

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