Every week from now until the end of August we are going to be looking at one of the books on the Guardian children's fiction prize longlist. This week it's Natasha Farrant's Flora in Love, the second book in her Bluebell Gadsby series.
What's the book about?
Just when Bluebell thought her crazy family were behaving normally, her parents make an announcement that could turn everything upside down. If only Zoran, their au pair, would come back to live with them. Unfortunately he's too busy teaching guitar to his new protégé, Zachary Smith.
Blue is jealous at first, until Zach starts helping her little sister with a secret project and becomes a regular visitor at the Gadsby house.
Then Zach goes missing. Blue needs her family to pull together if they're going to find him…
To get things started, you can read a first chapter of Flora in Love here.
Now watch this!
Natasha has made this video specially for us, to tell us a bit more about the book and its themes of different kinds of love – plus why she thinks you should review it!
More from Natasha Farrant
Bluebell Gadsby tells the story of her crazy family through a series of diary entries and transcripts of the films she is forever taking of them. Natasaha has shared 10 fabulous top tips on screenwriting and wants you to put them in practice by entering our screenwriting competition! The prize is… drumroll… a gorgeous HD camcorder worth around £100 so you can make your own videos! Find out more about the top tips and the competition.
Write your review!
The Guardian young critics competition is for all young readers to share their views on any of the longlisted books. Anyone aged 17 or under can enter by writing a review of no more than 200 words of one of the books longlisted for the prize. Individuals or school classes can enter and there are great prizes to be won including all the longlisted books. You can find out more and enter the competition here.
Find out more about the Guardian children's fiction prize book club and all the other authors we're going to be talking about over the summer. Next week… SF Said and his space epic Phoenix.
