Product Description

There were three people, standing in the darkest place, watching him. Simon is outraged that his Mum plans to remarry. He can't bear her new fiance or the way his mother and sister seem to have forgotten his late father. Overwhelmed by hatred and anger, he seeks solace in a nearby abandoned water mill. But another, powerful hatred lingers within its walls. And it is about to be unleashed...Westall's immense talent is evident from the opening line - Simon's anger and unhappiness are tangible, and the Scarecrows' ill-intentions terrifying. This is a brooding story about jealousy, hatred, murder and love from a multi-award winning author.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18718 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 199 pages

About the Author
Robert Westall was born in 1929 on Tyneside, where he grew up during the war. He went to the local Grammar School and then studied Fine Art at Durham University, and Sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. He worked as an art teacher in Cheshire and for the Samaritans. His first novel for children, The Machine Gunners, published in 1975, was an instant success and was awarded the Carnegie Medal. His books have been translated into ten languages, dramatised for television and he won the Carnegie again in 1982 for The Scarecrows, the Smarties Prize in 1989 for Biltzcat, and the Guardian Award in 1991 for The Kingdom by the Sea. Between 1986 until his death in 1993, he devoted himself to his writing.

Customer Reviews

A Dark and Powerful Story - Carnegie Medal Winner
A dark and deeply disturbing story of a boy overcome by hatred when his mum decides to remarry after his father's death. Even worse, is that she's chosen to marry Joe Morton, the man who embarrassed him at his boarding school Parents' Day, by turning up with his mum, no tie, in his flashy white Range Rover. Simon is torn apart with anger that his mum and little sister, Jane, seem to have forgotten his dad so easily. Having to return home in the school holidays, Simon explores an abandoned mill near his house, but there's something quite weird about the mill, and the way it's been left untouched for so many years. There is another powerful hatred here too, just waiting to be unleashed, and Simon is forced to face his fears.

Powerful and at times violent and deeply disturbing - a story for teens.

Intense and unsettling story
This is definitely a story for children over eleven. Westall's writing pulls no punches as he describes Simon's mindset, full of anger and increasingly isolated from his mother because of her new marriage (and her mistaken assumption that he doesn't want or need her). The atmosphere becomes more and more tense as the story progresses. The ending is open-ended, leaving the reader to wonder what happens to the characters. Highly recommended for lovers of atmospheric horror.

A thiller that plays with your mind
The Scarecrows is a story that combines two main plots: The resolution of the 'murder' and scandal at the mill that has created an atmosphere of unease that only a few can sense. The other plot is Simon and the 'devils', representations of Simon's anger and how he can let it take over him. This second plot revolves around Simon's commitment to his now dead father that helps him in the end to overcome the 'curse' of the Scarecrows that he awakened with his strong emotions of hate for his stepfather Joe Moreton. The appearance of the Scarecrows and the atmosphere that they create, although not consciously recognised by the members of Simon's family, is still lingering and is sensed by everyone in one form or another... The whole purpose of the book is to show how Simon comes to terms with the role that Joe will play in his life and also learning that he can be his own master and doesn't have to let the 'devils' take control of his mind. In other words the Scarecrows are a test that Simon must overcome in order to defeat the devils that represent his sadness and anger at his fathers death. Overall this book is a great read and there are not that many books now adays that provoke thought like this book.