Thistown - Malcolm McKay

An exciting adventure story and children's allegory about the realities of death, power and allegiance.Somewhere beyond the rain, the wind and the stars, and as far from the Earth as it's possible to be, there was a town so old that no one can remember how or when it began. It was a town where everyone stayed exactly the same, a town where no one grew older, a town surrounded by a million miles of yellow corn, which was so strange that if you went in, you disappeared immediately. And perhaps Thistown would have always stayed the same if they hadn't found The Sleeping Man. He changed everything...Forever.

McKay has been writing for over 30 years. TV films include the award-winning A Wanted Man trilogy, Redemption and an adaptation of Emile Zola's La Bete Humaine. He has also adapted Gormenghast as a serial for the BBC and wrote for the police series NCS Manhunt . He has two novels published, The Lack Brothers (Transworld) and Breaking Up (Pegasus).

"Thistown is an intriguing fantasy parable. The writing is clear and simple; the book will find readers even a bit younger than the main characters and could give rise to some interesting discussions on the meaning behind the symbols in the story. The ending is a particularly enigmatic affair which should get your students questioning." Writing in Education"McKay brilliantly captures the pivotal moments in relationships... the writing often achieving a convincingly gritty poignancy." The Times