Mimi Thebo – författare

A first children’s title from a prize-winning poet and author of adult books. A novel exploring a young boy’s grief, set against a colourful background of surfing.Eleven-year-old Billy's mother has just died. Billy's father isn't coping too well so Billy goes to stay with his dull Auntie Mary. The death of his mother has taken all the colour away from Billy's world. He sees his Auntie Mary as a grey person, whose dull blue house is shrouded in fog. Billy feels foggy and dull, too, and longs for the colour to return to his life. His mother was a well-known surfer – Kitten Brown – and the author has woven into this novel the buzzing vibes of the surfing world. Waves, movement, colour, VW combis, Cornwall, surfing songs – described through Billy's dreams as he sleeps away his grief. For though Billy's mother is dead, her joyful personality pervades the whole story as Billy, Auntie Mary and Billy's dad all attempt to deal with their grief. The author confronts the themes of loss and change in a most vibrant and original way. Her writing is sensual – colour, taste, smell, touch and sound all leap from the page. She shows how different people handle loss and change differently, and how they learn to relate to each other in new ways.The author's writing style is simple, sparse yet poetic, reminiscent of David Almond and Berlie Doherty.

Jack is determined to find his missing father. He tracks him down to the seamy side of town and an underworld that has no place in modern society. A second thought-provoking book from this lively new author.A wonderfully original story to follow this author’s debut as a children’s author with Wipe Out. As in Wipe Out, the book follows a child through a difficult journey but humour and hope spreads through the novel, giving it that feel-good factor at the end.Jack decides to track down his father when his mother announces she is to re-marry. Jack is a bit of a geek – he’s a whizz-kid into nutritional values of food and goes to a school for gifted children. It’s this that introduces the element of humour to the novel, through his friendships at school with other equally gifted kids.During Jack’s search, he befriends a homeless Big Issue seller, plus dog, and a Black soul singer and soul music is a feature of the novel. The two men try to dissuade Jack from finding his father, since they know he lives with the a ‘no-good bunch of hobos’ who live on the streets, funded by crime and even child abuse.Written in Mimi Thebo’s distinctive voice, this second novel is sure to attract attention.

Artie has everything a boy could possibly want. But beneath the surface, his “perfect” world is actually falling apart.GET REAL is a novel about a boy discovering the really important things in life – and teaching everyone around him as he learns.Artie has everything. His parents are making a serious fortune for themselves as sports agents, they’ve got a dream house with every kind of toy and gizmo a kid could ever desire, and Artie and his younger brother and sister go to glamorous parties every weekend in designer clothes, where they hang out with sporting celebrities… Oh, and did I mention Artie’s own phenomenal football ability? He’s already got some premiership talent scouts watching him.In spite of all this, Artie’s miserable. Why? Well, he hardly sees his successful parents, never gets to spend much time in their dream home and he and his best mate, Matt, aren’t getting on so well. In fact, having school days with Matt and weekends with his parents is like living in two separate worlds. Grandad is the only thing that holds these worlds together. But Grandad’s loopiness is getting worse. And only Artie knows it…

"When I get up, there's nobody home. Even Mum has gone out. The note says, 'I have to check my emails. I'll snowmobile to the meltline and be back soon. XX Mummy'.And I think, 'Good. I can feed my bear...'"Darcy's life was never exactly simple, but it was about to become a lot more complicated. Recovering from a distressing illness in her parents' cabin surrounded by looming pine trees, Darcy spends most of her days alone, warming herself by the log fire. That is, until she ventures into the woods hours before a heavy snowstorm, and finds herself face-to-face with a grizzly bear. Their encounter takes a surprising turn when it flourishes into a warm and caring companionship.Set against the beautiful backdrop of the snowy Yellowstone National Park in Montana, Mimi Thebo's poetic tale inspires compassion and friendship, sensitively focusing on how the seemingly impossible can become the achievable.

My life had been saved...and boy, was I annoyed. Humour and attitude keep Coco going when things get grim. Her relationships with her mother, hospital staff and other injured teens sustain her when her school friendships fall apart. But although everyone's working to give Coco a normal life, Coco doesn't think 'normal' is enough...When she was fourteen, the author Mimi Thebo died in a car accident. Hospital High is a young adult novel based on the day she died and the subsequent three years spent recovering from the accident.

One of an innovative new series of linked stories designed to build reader confidence. Nobody wants to play with Lucy on her first day in school, so her teacher gives her some chalks and Lucy begins to draw animals on the playground. She doesn't notice Zack and Ibrahim sitting at opposite ends of a nearby bench, watching her.