SuitabookBelonging and new beginnings
Matt moves from Milton Keynes to Hay-on-Wye, encounters a new school and forms relationships while investigating the town's history.
Loading your next page
Book details
Linda Newbery - Author
This is a mystery about belonging, memory and fairness: a newcomer follows a disturbing clue, questions the story a community tells about Wil, and becomes involved in putting a past wrong into perspective.
"New house, new school, new friends - but Matt Lanchester knows it won't all be that easy when he moves from Milton Keynes to Hay-on-Wye. Almost as soon as he arrives he is drawn into a mystery when he sees a roadside memorial marked by a little wooden cross with the initials M.L carved into it. His initials! Then he meets Robbo and Tig and Old Wil Jones and his wife, Gwynnie. There's history here and a well kept village secret - and Matt is desperate to find out more. His new acquaintances are keener on taunting Wil - Wil, the murderer. But that's not Matt' s style.
Book Brief
Sign in to see how this book fits your child and family preferences.
Sign in for personalised guidanceThis is a mystery about belonging, memory and fairness: a newcomer follows a disturbing clue, questions the story a community tells about Wil, and becomes involved in putting a past wrong into perspective.
Matt moves from Milton Keynes to Hay-on-Wye, encounters a new school and forms relationships while investigating the town's history.
Robbo, Tig and Old Wil Jones are connected with a village history in which Wil is taunted and called a murderer; Matt chooses to befriend him.
Matt sees a roadside memorial marked with his initials and learns about a past tragedy involving a boy whose ghost he feels he has come to know.
The book offers an opportunity to discuss how rumours and labels affect people, and whether seeking fuller knowledge can change a community's judgement.
This is a grounded book brief while Suitabook strengthens the analysis: the current material supports only a cautious reading; another book-specific source is still needed.
Book information
Limited information
Anything not established here remains open; it is not being treated as absent or safe.