Rachel Elliott – författare

A Stonewall Book Award Honor * A Sid Fleishman Humor Award HonorFunny and full of heart, this debut graphic novel is a story about friendship, identity, and embracing all the parts of yourself that make you special.  Fifth grade is just not Riley’s vibe. Everyone else is squaded up—except Riley. Her best friend moved away. All she wants to do is draw, and her grades show it.One thing that makes her happy is her favorite comedian, Joy Powers. Riley loves to watch her old shows and has memorized her best jokes. So when the class is assigned to write letters to people they admire, of course Riley’s picking Joy Powers!Things start to look up when a classmate, Cate, offers to help Riley with the letter, and a new kid, Aaron, actually seems to get her weird sense of humor. But when mean girl Whitney spreads a rumor about her, things begin to click into place for Riley. Her curiosity about Aaron’s two dads and her celebrity crush on Joy Powers suddenly make more sense.Readers will respond to Riley’s journey of self-discovery and will recognize themselves in this character who is less than perfect but trying her best. And creative kids will recognize themselves in her love of art and drawing.While often funny and light, Riley’s exploration of what it feels to be an outsider and how hard it can be to make a friend break your heart in the best way. And with all of Riley’s hijinks and missteps, this story is laugh-out-loud funny from start to finish.

The Secret Life of Pets meets Only Murders in the Building in this cozy mystery from award-winning graphic novelist Rachel Elliott.Mysteries abound in Perpleck City, and it’s Bel the black cat’s first day as a detective…But unfortunately, there’s never a mystery to solve in the apartment building where she lives with her goofy dog brother, Zeb, and their human, Josephine. So when local prankster, Payton Parakeet, goes missing during a neighborhood magic show, Bel can’t wait to put her detective skills to the test. Is this just another one of Payton’s pranks, or perhaps…a case of fowl play?As accusations begin to fly and the suspect list grows, Zeb and Bel must team up to get to the bottom of this feathery mystery. Hilarious hijinks, daring escapades, and flights of fancy are at the heart of this graphic novel that will keep you giggling and guessing on every page. (And if you keep your eyes peeled for clues as you read, you might even crack the case before Zeb and Bel!)

A life-affirming novel of love and letting go - for readers of ELEANOR OLIPHANT, THE TROUBLE WITH GOATS AND SHEEP and WHEN GOD WAS A RABBIT

'Beguiling and astute' Sarah Winman 'Astoundingly good' Deborah Moggach'Wonderfully redemptive' Sarah Haywood 'I was delighted and surprised by this textured, fascinating and most moving book' Chris WareA life-affirming novel about broken but loving families, people making mistakes but doing their best, grief and getting stuck - for readers of ELEANOR OLIPHANT and THE TROUBLE WITH GOATS AND SHEEP On her forty-seventh birthday, Sydney Smith stands on a rooftop and prepares to jump...Sydney is a cartoonist and freerunner. Feet constantly twitching, always teetering on the edge of life, she's never come to terms with the event that ripped her family apart when she was ten years old. And so, on a birthday that she doesn't want to celebrate, she returns alone to St Ives to face up to her guilt and grief. It's a trip that turns out to be life-changing - and not only for herself.DO NOT FEED THE BEAR is a book about lives not yet lived, about the kindness of others and about how, when our worlds stop, we find a way to keep on moving.Readers love Do Not Feed the Bear: 'I loved each and every moment of this book and feel bereft it has come to an end''Obsessed with how beautiful this book is! Keep flicking back to reread some passages as love them so much! What a treat of a book''Wow, what a joyous and hope-inducing read''I can't put it down - it's funny and tender and clever and I love it''It might break your heart a little bit first, but eventually it will put it back together and wrap it in a comforting snuggly blanket''Rich in poignant emotion and a truly mesmerising and addictive read''Swept me up into its pages; a book that I wanted to hug and cherish all the time I was reading''It's not just a book I read and reviewed. It's a book that read and reviewed me''If you're looking for a story that will make you smile by turns, be heart-lifting and heart-wrenching in a variety of ways but remain entirely beautiful for its honest look at life, then this is the book for you''Surprising, authentic and powerful, this book defies categorisation''Rachel Elliott has achieved something remarkable in this story of loss, regret and disappointment: she has created a tender, hopeful and uplifting novel, which I feel certain many readers will fall in love with'

A novel of love, homelessness, and learning to be fearlessIn the garden, there were three flamingos. Not real flamingos, but real emblems, real gateways to a time when life was impossibly good. They were mascots, symbols of hope. Something for a boy to confide in. First, there were the flamingos. And then there were two families. Sherry and Leslie and their daughters, Rae and Pauline - and Eve and her son Daniel. Sherry loves her husband, Leslie. She also loves Eve. It couldn't have been a happier summer. But then Eve left and everything went grey. Now Daniel is all grown-up and broken. And when he turns up at Sherry's door, it's almost as if they've all come home again. But there's still one missing. Where is Eve? And what, exactly, is her story? FLAMINGO is a novel about the power of love, welcome and acceptance. It's a celebration of kindness, of tenderness. Set in 2018 and the 80s, it's a song for the broken-hearted and the big-hearted, and is, ultimately, a novel grown from gratitude, and a book full of wild hope.Readers love Flamingo:'A world of characters you feel you know and care about . . . The writing is superb and often stopped me in my tracks' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'This novel grabs you by the heart and doesn't let go' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'I loved this book - the writing is beautiful, it's emotive and the attention to connections, humanity and nature is wonderful' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Drawing a link between music and what Maurice Merleau-Ponty calls the habit body – a quasi-transcendental structure at the heart of our perceptual, social, and agential being – this book helps articulate why music has the power to express as well as shape our existence at a fundamental level.