Oliver Eade
BOOKS by OLIVER EADE
Oliver, seven times winner of the annual Wilfred Hopkins Best Short Story Challenge, has written over a hundred short stories, many published collectively as Walls of Words. Several children's stories, illustrated by his granddaughter, were published as Stories of Children ages 7 to 77. His debut children’s novel, Moon Rabbit, was a winner of the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook 2007 New Novel Competition and long-listed for the 2008 Waterstones’ Children’s Book Prize, its sequel, Monkey King’s Revenge, children’s category finalist for The People’s Book Prize. In 2018, The Kelpie's Eyes, incorporating Scottish mythology, won the Georgina Hawtrey Woore Award for independent Fiction. His latest young adult novel, Number 24, transports four teens to a land where human and dog roles are reversed. Oliver has now published ten novels for young readers and young adults, and three adult novels. Whilst his novels for the younger age groups are mostly in the fantasy and magical realism genres, his mainstream adult writing is firmly set in the real world. His debut adult novel, A Single Petal, winner of the 2012 Local Legend Spiritual Writing Competition, is based in ancient China, a country he has grown to love, his wife being Chinese. With family in Texas, some of his novels for youngerreaders, including his From Beast to God trilogy,  are set in North America. He has also written twelve plays, two short-listed, two long-listed and one, runner-up winner in an international one act playwriting competition. A surreal play, The Gap, inspired by being caught up in a massive earthquake in China in 2008, was staged in 2012. Another,  The Other Cat, won the Segora 2018 International One Act Play competition and, together with two other plays of his, was staged in 2019. Oliver has led writing/drama workshops for children and teens in Scotland, London, Thailand and the USA.

www.olivereadebooks.org


 

The following webpage features Oliver's recent book, Eyes of Fire, plus his recommendations for the five best books in the category of 'fantasy fiction that makes the reader think more deeply about real-life issues'. Shepherd is an interesting website for promoting new writers across a wide spectrum of genres. Click on the link below to read more:

shepherd.com/best-books/to-think-more-deeply-about-real-life-issues

SPIKEY'S SORE NOSE


Mandy, with her friend Amy, rescue a baby hedgehog whose nose was stuck in a roadside drain grill. His nose is injured, and being Saturday, she decides to take him home. The problem is, her father hates animals, especially hedgehogs, so she hides him under her bed in a shoe box and seeks help from a nearby schoolmate, the class nerd, Thomas. Arriving back home with Thomas, her mother seems furious to have discovered Spikey, as Mandy names the hedgehog, but Thomas smooths the water by explaining how Mandy only wanted to help the injured animal and sought his help. He cleans and disinfects Spikey's nose, then suggests they ask Amy to help persuade Mandy's dad to let Mandy keep the little hedgehog over the weekend by telling stories about, and illustrating, different animals that are so important to humans, since Amy is a brilliant artist and a good story teller. Needless to say, after Mandy's dad has heard Amy's stories and seen her pictures, he becomes an animal lover and, together with Thomas, sets about building a house in the garden for Spikey ('rent free!) until the hedgehog can be released back into the wild.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spikeys-Sore-Nose-Oliver-Eade/dp/180440196X

THE ROO CLUB


Emily, a pianist at a London private girls’ school catering for gifted young musicians, is saved by her imaginary brother, Jimmy, from committing suicide, by drowning in a pond, because of bullying instigated by a new girl, Belinda. With the help of the girl’s world-famous pianist granny’s imaginary friend, Jenny, who shows Jimmy how to enter the hippocampuses of the brains of the bullies who were once Emily’s musical friends, things are turned around.
Because of problems revealed by the girl’s’ memories stored in their brains, visible to Jimmy and Jenny, Emily is able to help, and win back, those friends, and together they form the Roo Club (tenets: ‘Forgive, Help, Love) to aid girls with problems. Soon the beautiful half-Italian Belinda, becomes the isolated one.
What, Emily wonders, should she do when Belinda calls her, asking to meet up beside the very pond where she intended to end it all? Again, she turns to her wise imaginary brother for help.
And who, really, is the mysterious Jimmy?



https://www.amazon.co.uk/Roo-Club-Oliver-EADE-ebook/dp/B0D3ZWWV67

THE OTHER CAT


In The Other Cat, winner of the 2018 Segora International One-act Play Competition, staged in 2019, and inspired by Erwin Schrödinger's famous feline, Poppy encounters a body in the street. Is it her body? A detective inspector, a philosophy professor and a Catholic priest, in their own ways, help her to face reality... but is any of it real? This, and nine other plays, two long listed for the British Theatre Challenge, some farcical, others dark, take the reader on a metaphysical journey of human experience.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Other-Cat-Plays/dp/1804401943

MOON RABBIT

Scottish Borders schoolboy, Stevie Scott, befriends Maisie Wu, a new girl in his class, who comes from China, after she gets teased. He saves her from drowning in the River Tweed, but they emerge in mythological China where, as White Tiger and Hua Mei, or Pretty Flower, they encounter talking animals and hungry ghosts must undertake a dangerous mission to retrieve the Blue Dragon's magical red pearl and golden staff, stolen by Monkey King, if they are to return to Peebles in Scotland.

The artist, Alma Dowle, was nominated for the Kate Greenaway Prize for her illustrations.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Moon-Rabbit-Oliver-EADE-ebook/dp/B09TJBCWPQ

MONKEY KING'S REVENGE

Stevie and Maisie who, in 'Moon Rabbit', helped the Jade Emperor retrieve the Blue Dragon's magical red pearl and golden staff after these were stolen by the Monkey King, return to ancient China after Maisie gets kidnapped out of revenge by the monkey. Stevie and his high school friends must embark on a terrifying journey to rescue her. And how will they undo the curse of the Jade Snake? 'Monkey King's Revenge’ continues the yin yang tale of cross-cultural friendship and of conflict in a fantasy that is both dark and humorous, incorporating many characters and stories from Chinese mythology.

Illustrated by Alma Dowle who was nominated for the Kate Greenaway Prize for her Moon Rabbit illustrations.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Monkey-Kings-Revenge-Sequel-Rabbit-ebook/dp/B09VH522H9


EYES OF FIRE


A 3-part novel blending Native American and European American beliefs in a dimension-spanning story of love and perseverance


Texan teen, Adam, cannot believe his luck when his gorgeous, singer-songwriter Mexican classmate, María, dumps her boyfriend for him. After she gives him an Aztec gold bracelet bearing an image of the mysterious Golden Jaguar of the Sun, their lives change forever. In a journey spanning New York, Mexico and ancient North America, Adam and his remarkable sister, Chloe, must learn who Maria really is if the world is to be saved, but can Adam defeat his greatest enemy, himself? A three-part tale of love, family values and the blending of White Man’s and Native American beliefs in a world threatened by evil forces.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eyes-Fire-Oliver-Eade-ebook/dp/B0B87ZTHWZ




NO MORE BAMBOO


A charming tale aimed at young readers aged 5 and upwards

Ping Ping the young panda is fed up with eating bamboo, and goes off into the forest to look for more interesting food. He soon learns that, for pandas, bamboo is not so bad after all.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/No-More-Bamboo-Oliver-Eade-ebook/dp/B0BK9CGBX6

THE FIRE HILLS


In AD 180, the hated Commodus accedes the Imperial throne in Rome after the death of his philosopher father, Marcus Aurelius. The son’s evil influence reaches the far reaches of the Roman Empire, threatening peaceful co-existence with Celtic settlements around the fort of Trimontium. But for a Celtic deer goddess of the West, Flidais, and a brother and sister from twenty first century Melrose in the Scottish Borders, the history of Europe might have been so very different.



https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fire-Hills-Oliver-EADE/dp/1912513544


IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE


Just as Larry’s blossoming love for a girl called Skye seems threatened, the boy falls victim to COVID-19 and ends up on a ventilator. Looking down at his body in an Edinburgh ITU, he recalls past lives over seven thousand years, each highlighting a landmark in the history of Medicine. How can this possibly change the future for Skye and for her mother? From a doctor and award-winning novelist and playwright, the story of Medicine is a blend of fiction and fact, illustrated by the writer’s US granddaughter during the pandemic lockdown.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blink-Eye-Oliver-Eade/dp/1912513560


 Winner of the Georgina Hawtrey-Woore Award for Fiction for Young Adults
 
THE KELPIE'S EYES
 A tale of sisterly love for teenagers/young adults

Caitlin and sister Rhona fall prey to a Kelpie inhabiting a famous Scottish waterfall. Transformed by the evil horse spirit in to Mairi, the fifteen-year-old Victorian Glaswegian orphan in the book she's reading, Caitlin is taken to a fairy-tale land where she believes she's the true princess. But the Kelpie has other plans for her. Can Rhona save her sister? And what about the woodcutter's son?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kelpies-Eyes-Oliver-EADE-ebook/dp/B00KK2COCU



THE TERMINUS
Coming-of-age futuristic fantasy

Sixteen year-old Gary, desperate for a girlfriend, finds a pair of time-specs in a London park. They flip him into twenty-third century submerged London, a terrifying place where he meets the beautiful young Beetie, but he soon learns that love also brings unbearable burdens. Together with other rebels holed up in the disused London Underground, she leads Gary and his irrepressibly annoying friend, Mike, on a journey of passion, deceit, loyalty and terror… a journey to uncover the dark mystery of the Terminus, involving an enigmatic time-traveller called ‘God’ and an ancient Atlantean artefact.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Terminus-Oliver-EADE-ebook/dp/B00DOZWEKW
THE RAINBOW ANIMAL
A fun spoof on war for children aged 7-11 years

Rachel hides her pet hamster, Waffles, in her dress pocket for his birthday present–a secret ride on a carousel animal at the local mall in Houston, Texas. Choosing the mysterious Rainbow Animal, she is transported to the strange world of Colorwallytown whose brightly-painted little inhabitants are about to go do battle with the black and white Dullabillies across the river…and all because of witches and fish!
Mistaken as the new Colorwally Military Advisor, the girl gets caught up in a paint war she cannot avoid. Worst of all, dreaded class nerd, Alec, whose parents are rumored to be witches, appears to be on the opposing side until…
A fun spoof on war for children aged 7-11 years.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rainbow-Animal-Oliver-Eade-ebook/dp/B0082YUXRG
NORTHWARDS
An eco-fantasy for young readers set in North America

A Texan schoolgirl's feet will only point north... towards the Arctic. Earth Mother requires her help to save the world from a terror lying deep inside the Mountains of Sorrow. Something to do with a mysterious chamber of ice. And something to do with her Granny who lies ill in hospital. But feisty Jenny soon makes friends with the annoying spherical Snowball people, with hairy little mountain folk and with a small snow cat; friends that she and a Japanese boy she meets up with are going to need big time...

ttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Northwards-Oliver-EADE-ebook/dp/B00OO17ZHC
VOICES
Adult mainstream novel

A widowed London sci-fi writer, burdened by guilt from his past, can’t understand why his brilliant ten-year old granddaughter has taken against him. His son attributes her behaviour to the girl’s mother going off with her latest lover. When a neighbour’s body is found in his garden, could this be linked to his guilt... or to the voices emerging from his computer? Voices that inspired his latest novel ‘Voices’ about aliens taking Earth via the internet. In a tale of murder and child abuse, seen through the eyes of a grandfather, father and child, all is not what it appears to be to the authorities.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Voices-Oliver-Eade-ebook/dp/B01C1WUT0A
THE PARTH PATH
Can women do better without men? A dystopian, post-apocalyptic novel about a young man desperately trying to return to the happiness of an idyllic childhood.

In a post-apocalyptic Scotland, parthenogenesis is used by the remaining women to recreate themselves and society, keeping men as slaves and for genetic potential. Against all the odds, Solem, escapes from a man camp with clonie, Rea, to the ‘Island’, unaware this was engineered by the Controller. With repeated flashbacks to an idyllic childhood on a reservation, as ‘Peter’, shared with childhood sweetheart, Moira, he soon realises nothing is what it seems. A young girl next door, Sara, falls in love with him but says little. The birth of Mary, Rea’s child, brings untold joy to all, including Sara, until… And who really is Sara? As Socrates said, ‘once woman becomes equal to man, she becomes his superior’.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Parth+Path+Oliver+Eade
WALLS OF WORDS
Short stories inspired by travels and connections from across the world.

Short stories from a prize-winning novelist, inspired by travels and connections across the world. From China and Japan to Scotland via Australia, USA, elsewhere and even nowhere, love, loss and anger give way to humour in a strange mix of tales in which fantasy often merges with reality.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Walls-Words-Stories-Oliver-Eade/dp/191251351X/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1530021638&sr=8-1
STORIES FOR CHILDREN AGES 7 TO 77
A collection of short stories appropriate for all ages. A singing kettle who has lost his whistle is rescued from the oblivion of being discarded by a deaf old lady; a dust ghost is saved from extinction when a sock blocks the entrance to his home, the hoover; a young girl grieving the loss of her soulmate learns he had withheld a magical secret; a tree fairy sorts out a nervous boy's bullies for him; a teased nerd becomes famous after inventing a dream-catching machine whilst in another story a boy discovers the ghost of a pretty Victorian girl hiding under his bed. These and other heart-warming short stories are illustrated by the writer's nine-year-old granddaughter.
NUMBER 24
Dylan, in love with classmate Alice, who lives next door, despairs of ever impressing her after his father, their hated maths teacher, shouts at her to keep her pet goldador quiet. When Bouncer goes missing, he seizes his chance. Outside Number Twenty-four, home of the mysterious Professor Pringle, he finds Bouncer’s collar. And a talking dog. He persuades a reluctant Alice to enter but gets more than he bargained for when the teens are transported to Dogtopia where human and dog roles are reversed, and Alice becomes Bouncer’s pet. Here he must prove his worth by rescuing his annoying young sister, Caitlin, turned duck by the evil Scissorman. First, however, they must help free Bosona, Top Dog, Pringle’s owner and Bouncer’s new love, but whom can they trust, and where is Ben, Alice’s beloved brother? Shy Dylan’s confidence grows as his bravery is revealed, but how can he ever replace Colin in Alice’s heart?
THE ZOOKEEPER'S DAUGHTER
Isabelle Scott is devastated to hear that she won't be able to visit her Swiss 'Mamie' (granny) that summer because Old Jamie, who helps her father run their zoo in Scotland, is ill in hospital. The thought of spending the summer holidays with her annoying young brother, Joe, and being looked after by 'Grumpy Gramps', is too much to bear... until Florence, a little white Swiss chamois and a present from Mamie, with help from a spider who weaves a magical golden web and Old Jamie's book about animals in the wild, transports her to the freedom of those worlds of the animals in the book. But she soon discovers that, because of what humans are doing to the planet, the lives of the animals she becomes are under threat. However, her journeys, which at times include Joe, whose behaviour improves because of the magic, Elodie, her best friend in Scotland, and Angélique, her Swiss friend, reinforce her determination to save endangered animals from extinction. Their Save the Koalas Campaign goes viral, and culminates with all four children ending up as koalas, together with Gramps, in a catastrophic bush fire like those of 2019. After they return, they set up a foundation together to help all endangered species.
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