One of our Books of the Year 2014 - September 2014 Book of the Month Can Amelie win the Britain’s Best Teen Baker of the Year competition? She’s got through to the quarter-finals and must now go to London in compete in the competition. Amelie has no fears about the quality of her baking; she loves to bake and knows that her cakes are extra-specially good. But Amelie has Cystic Fibrosis. Will she able to manage the pressure of the competition? Fuelled by ‘flour-power’ Amelie is determined to show the world what she can do. Ever her anxious mother will not be able to stop her. But when Amelie hears some dreadful news it looks as if all her hopes will be dashed. Amelie’s courage is inspirational.
A Piece of Passion from Loraine Taylor, Publisher “We are delighted to welcome award-wining author Vanessa Curtis onto the Curious Fox list. A determined heroine, cakes, family and friendships, what better ingredients for an uplifting story for 9-12 girls. Amelie is a wonderful character – strong, passionate, determined – and this is a book about the struggles she faces in every day life to pursue her dreams of becoming a baker. The quality of the writing and the lightness of touch really stand out. It’s a book we’re very proud to be publishing.”
Amelie Day loves to bake: cupcakes, biscuits, bread, tarts and muffins – flour power! So she’s thrilled when she makes it through to the quarter-finals of a national competition, 'Best Teen Baker of the Year'. There's just one small problem. Amelie has Cystic Fibrosis, which means endless daily rounds of physio and pills, and the threat of being put on the lung transplant waiting list. But Amelie doesn't want to be defined by her illness, and is determined to prove that she has what it takes to win the competition, even when her over-protective mother forbids her from taking part..
A Message from Vanessa Curtis - The Baking Life of Amelie Day is a work of fiction based upon my own particular research. It is important to note that Cystic Fibrosis affects different people in different ways. I wrote this book after watching a television documentary about CF. It followed a group of young people who were waiting for life-saving lung transplants and I was touched by the daily struggles they had just to stay alive. Cystic Fibrosis is a life-shortening genetic condition which slowly destroys the lungs and digestive system, and there’s currently no cure. Only half of sufferers live to celebrate their 40th birthday. To find out more about Cystic Fibrosis you can contact the Cystic Fibrosis Trust at www.cysticfibrosis.org.uk or call the CF Trust helpline on 0300 373 1000. You may also like to follow the blog of Victoria Tremlett who lives with CF at www.tor-pastthepointofnoreturn.blogspot.co.uk. Some of my research was aided by Oliver Jackson, who lives with CF, and I’d like to thank him for his input.
Vanessa Curtis originally trained as a pianist before becoming a freelance journalist and contributing articles to a range of magazines and newspapers. She is the author of two biographies on Virginia Woolf, Virginia Woolf's Women and The Hidden Houses of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell as well as a reviewer of fiction and non-fiction for broadsheet newspapers. She is the co-editor of the Virginia Woolf Bulletin, a literary magazine, and also works as a freelance literary consultant. She lives and works near Chichester Harbour.
