Ghostly treat at the library!

Friday 19 September 2014

Young readers will get the chance to meet an award-winning children’s author who has set her new book in the Island at an event tomorrow.

Ali Sparkes will be launching her first ghost story “The Man in the Water” at Jersey Library.

It is the story about a family on holiday in the Island and readers will get to meet the real Maguire family who feature in the book and holiday in Jersey every summer. 

Ali said: "When I first met the Maguire family I asked lots of seemingly random questions, so I could get a feel for them all as characters for the story. One of the things they were passionate about was their annual holiday to Jersey. When I was little we all went to Guernsey for a holiday which was fantastic - two weeks of sun, sand and fun! And later I went to Jersey with my own children and my husband. I felt I knew the islands well enough to set a story there.

The Man In The Water features all three Maguire children as well their mum and dad and is a spooky adventure with connections to when the Island was occupied by the Germans during World War II.

Ali said: "One of the things I remember most about those early holidays was the underground German military hospitals. I found them so eerie and compelling and the WWII history of the island was fascinating - so these two elements came together as I wove the story.

"Coincidentally, I was in Jersey myself for a week of events in schools during March 2013, and everyone I spoke to was terrifically enthusiastic about their island and its history being used as part of the plot."

The book is written in aid of the Southampton Friends of PICU charity and profits from it will help support the work of the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Southampton General Hospital – the unit that cares for children and teenagers across the South of England and the Channel Islands.

The Maguire's youngest daughter Victoria was treated at the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit as a baby, when she was desperately ill with heart problems. The family have been staunch supporters of Friends of PICU ever since. When they heard Ali was writing a book for the highest bidder at the charity's fundraising ball, they said they couldn't resist.

Richard Maguire said: "She came to interview us and really picked up on our annual holidays to Jersey – and when the story was finished we realised that she’d set it on the island.

"We all loved it and as soon as Ali had presented it to us we started thinking about how we might raise more money for PICU by selling the story as a download or as a paperback book.’

Ali has written more than 38 books for children including “Frozen In Time” which won the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award in 2010 and many of her books have been translated for children all over the world. Most of them are for the seven plus or nine plus bookshelves with a few written for the teen market. 

She’ll be talking to young fans at Jersey Library on Saturday 20 September at 11:00 am, signing copies of her new book at Waterstones on Queen Street at 1 pm and she will also be doing special presentations at some of the Island's schools.

Ali said: "I will be explaining all about how the book came to be and sharing lots of ideas. I'm hugely looking forward to it and really hope Jersey people will take this story to their hearts.

‘Like most of my stories, it’s modern and quite fast paced with a supernatural twist. But it’s also surprisingly emotional. I know it’s brought a lump to the throats of a few people who have read it."

You can find out more about Ali’s work on her website www.alisparkes.com