Eren - Simon P. Clark

'Tell the story to its end,' says Eren with a grin. His yellow eyes are glowing like embers in the night.
'When I reach the end,' I say, 'what happens? You'll have the whole story.'
'Hmm,' he says, looking at me and licking his lips with a dry, grey tongue. 'What happens then? Why don't we find out?'

People are keeping secrets from Oli. His mum has brought him to stay with his aunt and uncle in the countryside, but nobody will tell him why his dad isn't with them. Where is he? Has something happened? Oli has a hundred questions, but then he finds a secret of his own: he discovers the creature that lives in the attic.

Eren.

Eren is not human.
Eren is hungry for stories.
Eren has been waiting for him.

Sharing his stories with Eren, Oli starts to make sense of what's happening downstairs with his family. But what if it's a trap? Soon, Oli must make a choice: learn the truth - or abandon himself to Eren's world, forever.

Simon P. Clark grew up in England, has taught English in Japan, and now lives in New Jersey. He is 28.

Eren caught my attention from the very first page. I really enjoyed it. Sure-footed, distinctive, strange, poetic. Simon P. Clark is a truly interesting new voice.
David Almond, author of Skellig

I thought it was fabulous. Truly. On the one hand, Eren is a sophisticated look at truth and lies and the area inbetween inhabited by stories. On the other, it's a simple tale of a family in crisis. You're never quite sure what to believe and it never quite feels that the ground is steady beneath your feet. It takes skill to juggle all these balls and still involve the reader to such an extent they can't put your book down, but Clark carries it off with aplomb. This is storytelling at its best. Eren is probably suited best to middle grade readers but anyone who loves storytelling and uncertainty will love it - from teens to grown ups. If you love the work of David Almond, you'll love Eren . . . A wonderful, worrying, inspiring little book.
The Book Bag

A thrilling story with depth and character that leaves you with that ache you get only when you realise that there is no more of the story left to be told.
The Bookseller 'Book of the Week'

Dark, moody and easy to get lost in, Eren is a great book that makes audiences really wonder about the power of a good story.
The Sprout