The Unadoptables

Zusatztext Raves for The Unadoptables : "Unfolding with the clarity of a fairy tale! this sure-footed debut casts a delightfully spooky spell."-- Kirkus Informationen zum Autor Hana Tooke was born in Alkmaar, the Netherlands, and now lives in Bath, England, with her family, a cat, and a spider called Spooder Bob. She received her BA in music from Plymouth University and an MA in writing for young people from Bath Spa University. Before becoming a children's book author, Hana was a singer, a primary school teacher, a cheese seller, and a mad scientist. ? Klappentext Neil Gaiman meets Hans Christian Andersen in this delicious fairy tale full of mysterious spirits, daring escapes, and a beautiful message about the power of found families. Egbert, Lotta, Sem, Fenna, and Milou. They are an artist, an inventor, a sewist, a baker, and their imaginative ringleader--and they are the unadoptables: children who have lived their whole lives at the Little Tulip orphanage in Amsterdam. When a corrupt sea captain threatens to make them his minions, Milou knows it's time to plot a daring escape. But she has no idea their caper will begin with a crime, or that it will take them down back roads and alleys, along frozen canals, to an old windmill housing an abandoned puppet theater, where the truth about her origins lies hidden if she can only untangle the clues. But with the sea captain hunting them down, and a nosy neighbor threatening to reveal them to the authorities, the unadoptables will have to work fast to uncover the truth and find a way to save each other. Leseprobe Little Tulip Orphanage Q Rules for Baby Abandonment W Rule One: The baby should be wrapped in a  cotton  blanket. Rule Two: The baby should be placed in a  wicker  basket. Rule Three: The baby should be deposited on the topmost step.   In all the years that Elinora Gassbeek had been matron of the Little Tulip Orphanage, not once had the Rules for Baby Abandonment been broken. Until the summer of 1880. Five babies were abandoned in the months that followed and, despite the Rules being clearly displayed on the orphanage’s front door, not one of these babies was abandoned  sensibly . The first baby arrived on a bright morning at the end of August, as dew glistened on the city’s cobblestone streets. Swaddled in a pink cotton blanket and placed on the appropriate step was a baby with cocoa-­bean eyes and blond fuzz on its head. However, the way in which Rule Two had been disregarded left no room for forgiveness. The child was snuggled inside a tin toolbox, which had been wrapped with emerald-­green ribbon, as if it were a present. “Ugh!” Elinora Gassbeek squawked, looking down at the toolbox baby in disgust. She signaled a nearby orphan to retrieve it. “Put it upstairs.” The orphan nodded. “What name shall I put on the cot, Matron?” The matron curled her lip. Naming children was tedious, but necessary. “She’s got a lotta fingers, Matron!” The baby was sucking its thumb, making loud slurping noises that sent ants crawling up the matron’s spine. She counted the child’s fingers. Sure enough, it had an extra digit on each hand. “Name it . . . Lotta.” The second baby arrived on a blustery evening in September, as a mischievous wind rattled the orphanage’s many wooden shutters. An orphan walked into the dining hall, cradling a coal bucket as if it were a bouquet of flowers. Something was  whimpering  inside the bucket. Peering in, the matron was displeased to find a raven-­haired infant, wrapped in a soot-­stained shawl, blinking up at her. “Poor thing was abandoned beside the coal bunker,” the orphan said. “Disgraceful!” Gassbeek screeched, referring to the breaking of Rule Two  and  Rule Three. “Take it away.” “A name for him, Matron?” the orphan asked nervo...

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Hana Tooke
• Editore: Viking USA
• Lingue: Inglese
• Raccomandazione d'eta': 8 a 12 anni
• Formato: Copertina rigida
• Pubblicazione: 30.06.2020
• EAN: 9780593116937
• ISBN: 978-0-593-11693-7
• Pagine: 384
• Dimensioni: 140 mm x 210 mm x 25 mm
• Categoria: Libri per bambini e per ragazzi > Libri per bambini fino a 11 anni