Shortlisted for the 2013 Scottish Children’s Book Award
Set in a disturbing dystopian future boys and girls alike will love this story of friendship and family ties set in a post-apocalyptic Scotland. A young boy Toby must find his kidnapped father and sister. His mission takes the reader on a journey where he befriends a Russian girl whose family have also been taken. In a freezing cold winter, with vicious dogs, wolves and pirates on the rampage, will they make it in time? Black Tide is the dramatic sequel to Red Fever, which won the Kelpies Prize in 2010.
The winners of each of the categories - 3-7, 8-11 and 12-16 - of the Scottish Children’s Book Award 2013 are voted for by children and will be announced in March 2014. If you would like to register to vote, visit www.scottishbooktrust.com. You can also add a review on their site and here at Lovereading we would also be delighted to receive reviews of any of the shortlisted titles, which we will load on to the site. Just email your review through to bookreviews@lovereading.co.uk
Toby's dad and little sister have been kidnapped, and Toby is left alone in the aftermath of the terrible Red Fever epidemic, which has wiped out much of the world's population. Menacing tribes of super-intelligent dogs are gaining ever more ground in Scotland, moving northwards. A mysterious figure called The General is leading a group of villains who are kidnapping people and imprisoning them in a place he calls New Caledonia. But where is this New Caledonia and what does The General plan to do with his captives? Toby sets out on a perilous mission to find New Caledonia and, he hopes, his family.
Caroline Clough was born and raised in Yorkshire but has lived in Scotland for 30 years. She lives with her husband, two children, and a menagerie of pets, in rural Aberdeenshire outside Turrif.
Her first novel for children, Red Fever, won the Kelpies Prize 2010. Caroline came very close to not entering the prize at all. She discovered an advert for the prize in a writing magazine just ten days before the deadline in February. Regretfully Caroline threw out the magazine and spent a sleepless night thinking about what she could have written.
“In the morning I became convinced that I could write 40,000 words in ten days!” says Caroline. “This sounds like sheer madness now — I’m not sure where I got the confidence to do it, but as soon as I had finished my chores I came in and started.”
