A stunning graphic novel adaptation of Siobhan Dowd's moving story of prejudice and violence, the uncertainty of lives lived on the fringes of society, and of love in its many forms.
Jim and his family have halted by Dundray and the education people have been round mouthing the law. In school the Traveller kids suffer at the hands of teachers and other pupils alike, called 'tinker-stinkers', 'dirty gyps' and worse. Then the punches start. The only friendly face is Kit, a settled girl who takes Jim under her wing and teaches him to read in the great cathedral chamber of the cave below the town. With Kit and the reading, Jim seems to have found a way to exist in Dundray, but everyday prejudice and a shocking act of violence see his life uprooted once again.
Siobhan was born in London to Irish parents and worked for much of her life for human rights charities. The Pavee and the Buffer Girl, her first published work, was followed by four novels which won over 65 awards including the Branford Boase, the Carnegie Medal and the Bisto Award. Siobhan died of cancer at the age of 47 in 2007, leaving behind the roots of A Monster Calls, which was completed by Patrick Ness. It won the Carnegie Medal and a raft of other prizes and has been adapted into a film. Before her death Siobhan set up the Siobhan Dowd Trust which uses the proceeds of her work to take stories to disadvantaged young people.
Emma Shoard is an illustrator and printmaker who graduated in 2011 from Kingston University’s Illustration & Animation course. She also works part-time as a bookseller for Daunt Books. Emma has twice been longlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal for her work on Siobhan Dowd’s The Pavee and the Buffer Girl and Mal Peet’s The Family Tree.