From fishing in buckets to bone-collecting, the four Conroy sisters are determined to have fun, even when they are staying with strict Big Grandma! Winner of the Guardian Children's Award and first in the highly acclaimed EXILES series.
Winner of the Guardian Children's Award and first in the highly acclaimed EXILES series.
The Conroys are no ordinary family. For a start, they don't have a television. Nor are they allowed to keep pets. And Mr and Mrs Conroy never take their daughters - Ruth, Naomi, Rachel and Phoebe - on holiday.
But then Mr and Mrs Conroy inherit 5000, and, to their daughters' dismay, decide to spend it redecorating the house over the summer. So the girls are packed off to Big Grandma's house for the holidays, where lots of chores and horribly long walks await them.
At first it seems as though Big Grandma is determined to put a stop to any fun. But, being Conroys, the girls soon find novel ways to entertain themselves, and start having as many adventures and mishaps as usual . . . and after a while, even Big Grandma doesn't seem so bad . . .
I can't think of a girl aged between eight and eighteen who wouldn't enjoy this little gem of a book. - Jill Murphy, The Bookbag
The characters are beautifully developed ... recorded with such humour and sensitivity that it is an engrossing, sometimes laugh-out-loud story. - Write Away
McKay has created a boisterous, chaotic family which always makes me want to rush out and adopt three sisters. - TES
PRAISE FOR THE CASSON FAMILY BOOKS:
'Hilary McKay's wittily observed portrayals of family life are full of warmth, vitality and irrepressible good humour.' - Kate Agnew, The Guardian
McKay has a genius for domestic comedy. - The Sunday Times
Hilary McKay's strength lies in her understanding of young people and her ability to evoke them very simply. - The Guardian
Born in Boston, Lincolnshire, Hilary McKay grew up in a household of readers and read voraciously from an early age. After studying Botany and Zoology at St Andrews University, she went on to work as a biochemist, but always wanted to write. Hilary's novels have won numerous awards including the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Smarties Award and the Whitbread Children's Book Award. She lives in a small village in Derbyshire with her family.