#BeMoreRaspberry
Welcome to this year’s Cranachan Catalogue. Curl up with a cuppa and browse our brand new titles for 2021 and our braw backlist too.
Open a book and open a door to another world: play a deadly game of chess against the cruellest Viking in the realm; prepare for the race of your life in the run up to this year’s Olympic games; face a storm of witches at the Auld Kirk in Alloway; and return to Eilanmor for a faerie battle in The Sword of Light…
Your adventures await!
We are finally able to reveal the cover for The Race by Roy Peachey. Out on 3rd June, with sport as the central subject, The Race combines contemporary drama with illuminating historical flashbacks, and explores crucial themes including, adoption, racism, family and friendship. An inspiring tale of perseverance and personal achievement, it’s a perfect read for young people in the run up to the 2021 Olympics.
12-year-old Lili is preparing to race in front of the Queen as part of her school’s anniversary celebrations. Having been adopted from China as a baby, Lili also has issues to work through. When her training is thrown into chaos by events outside her control, she must choose between family and the race of her life.
Meanwhile in 1944, Eric Liddell, hero of the 1924 Olympics, finds himself in a war zone. Separated from his family, he is getting ready to run his final race in a prison camp in China. But his lifelong principles are challenged by the imprisoned children he is trying to help…
Praise for The Race
‘An original, immensely readable take on the Eric Liddell story for the 21st century.’
SALLY MAGNUSSON
‘Not your typical happily ever after, Roy has written a wonderfully relatable and inclusive tale, where all are welcome, and the beauty of sport brings everyone together in the end. There are life lessons to be learned in this inspiring story with friendship at its heart.’
SHAUNAGH BROWN
International Rugby Player and Former Commonwealth Games Athlete
The Race by Roy Peachey
Children’s Fiction 8-12 | Contemporary | Sport (Olympics tie-in)
978-1-911279-83-9 | £7.99 |3rd June 2021
B-format PB | 200 pp tbc
Island-based publisher, Cranachan, is to launch a brand-new Young Adult imprint ‘Gob Stopper’. Adding to their successful Pokey Hat imprint, which specialises in high quality historical fiction for 8-12-year olds, Cranachan hope to extend their readership by targeting teen readers in Scotland.
The Gob Stopper imprint will include a clutch of strong, Scottish-set titles. Ross Sayers, whose debut novel with Cranachan, Mary’s the Name, was shortlisted for the Saltire First Book Award in 2017, will be the first author published under the new imprint with his latest novel, Sonny and Me, out in May 2019.
Written in Scots and set in a fictitious Stirling secondary school, Sonny and Me, is described as Still Game meets Gregory’s Girl. The story follows two pals, Daughter and Sonny, as they try to get through fourth year at high school. When their favourite teacher leaves unexpectedly, and no one will say why, the boys decide to start their own investigation. As they dig deeper into the staff at Battlefield High, they discover a dark secret which one person will kill to protect… Will they uncover the truth without being expelled? Can their friendship survive when personal secrets are revealed? And will they manage to skive off double English?
Cranachan’s Publicity and Sales Manager, Kelly Macdonald, says “we want to publish books that are relevant; that teens can identify with the themes and recognise themselves in the pages. Sonny and Me is YA at its best for Scottish teenagers: it’s fresh, funny, and it explores diversity and LGBT issues too. With two male protagonists, we are also hopeful that Sonny and Me could reach some of the hard-to-reach reluctant readers in schools too.”
Further titles to be released under the new imprint include Girl in a Cage by literary heavyweights Jane Yolen and Robert J Harris, about Robert the Bruce’s daughter Marjorie and her kidnapping by the Edward 1 and The Stone of Destiny, an epic fantasy series by debut author Caroline Logan, which is described as Outlander meets Lord of the Rings.
Sonny and Me by Ross Sayers is out in May 2019.
As they like to say at Cranachan HQ – ‘the proof of the pudding is in the reading.’
/ENDS
Editor’s Notes
For further information, or to obtain Advance Review Copies of forthcoming titles, please contact:
Kelly Macdonald
07511 223127
kelly@cranachanpublishing.co.uk
Release issued by:
Kelly Macdonald
Cranachan Publishing
07511 223127
kelly@cranachanpublishing.co.uk
About Cranachan Publishing
Established at the beginning of 2016, Cranachan publish high quality children’s fiction and nonfiction, under the Pokey Hat imprint. Readers, young and old alike, can escape to Scotland by experiencing its culture and history through the medium of story, wherever they live in the world. Cranachan also publish educational resources for teachers. Their new YA imprint, Gob Stopper is launching in 2019.
cranachanpublishing.co.uk @cranachanbooks
The author’s first title, The Stone of Destiny, is an action-packed fantasy novel with a distinctly Scottish heart. Featuring mysterious creatures from Scottish myths and folklore, the book also uses Gaelic and makes the most of Scotland as the setting.
Anne Glennie, Publisher, says she is delighted to welcome Aviemore-based author, Caroline Logan, to the Clan Cranachan family: “We are thrilled and excited to be adding such an exceptional fantasy writer to our growing Gob Stopper list. Caroline’s first book The Stone of Destiny is going to kick off a new Young Adult fantasy series, ‘The Four Treasures’, with a bang and we think fans of the genre are going to be hooked on the Ailsa, the strong, sword-wielding main character, and the assortment of Scottish folk races she encounters. Caroline’s writing is fresh and exciting, exactly what we look for in our Cranachan titles.”
Logan, who is a biology teacher at Kingussie High School said: “I am so excited to be part of the creative and dynamic Clan Cranachan team. Anne and Kelly are so enthusiastic, and our discussions have left me brimming with ideas. I’m looking forward to introducing readers to Ailsa and the land of Eilanmor, with its magic and myths, and I hope they are as captivated by her journey as I was.”
Perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas and Susan Dennard, The Stone of Destiny by Caroline Logan will be published in October 2019 by Cranachan Publishing.