The Dead Of Summer

Description

A strong contemporary novel; a debut from an author with a brilliant, highly original voice. It was hot everywhere that year. During the long summer holidays the days rolled by in blue and gold, the sun bouncing off the dustbins and burning into windscreens. By the end of that summer, three of us were dead. Anita's mother has just died. The family has moved to a new town, a new home, and a new neighbourhood. The long school holidays are about to start and the summer stretches out interminably in front of them. Kyle lives across the road from Anita. Cool, surly, laconic, he knows all the places to hide. He says the area between the houses and the river is littered with hidden, disused mines; a perfect playground for restless kids with nothing better to do. But what they don't know is that these mines will form the scene of the most unsettling crime this community has ever known. This summer everything will change. This summer, the dead days have come home to stay.

Awards

Shortlisted for YoungMinds Book Award 2007.

Reviews

'A modern day classic in the making' Dazed & Confused 'A beautifully written descent into darkness' Glamour 'So addictive you'll devour it in one greedy gulp' Cosmopolitan 'Creepy, clever, compelling' Arena 'Prepare to be gripped by this brilliantly haunting novel' Grazia 'An amazing debut' New Woman '"The Dead of Summer" is like an addiction -- so impossible to put down, it's consumed far too soon. In this tale of a child who murders, Camilla Way weaves an inexorable web of innocent love and evil, tightening the strands until there is no room to move, no hope of escape.' Jacquelyn Mitchard 'A book of complex emotions and shocking events, ending in tragedy as teenagers have a long hot summer to get through. Very disturbing and very good. It could well suit Richard and Judy'.' Sarah Broadhurst, Bookseller

Author description

Camilla Way was born in Greenwich, south-east London in 1973. Her father was the poet and author Peter Way. After attending Woolwich College she studied modern English and French literature at the University of Glamorgan. Formerly Associate Editor of the teenage girls' magazine Bliss, she is currently an editor and writer on the men's style magazine Arena. Having lived in Cardiff, Bristol, Bath and Clerkenwell, she now lives in south-east London.