Jane is spending the summer with her odd new friend, Staffa, going to parties and wearing fancy dresses. Staffa's slightly scary mother, Lady Matilda, tells crazy stories, drinks a vile-smelling tea, and never strays far from a glowing painted box that the girls are under strict orders never, ever to open. But Jane can't resist; upon opening it, she is sucked into an amazing and terrifying new world so small that insects are the size of horses. Jane knows she must escape immediately or be trapped forever. But first, she has to wrangle a flying bumblebee, rescue the king, and free the people of Eck.
Kate Saunders's The Little Secret takes readers into a wildly imaginative miniaturized world of castle balls, death-defying bee riders, and giant racing spiders. A world where wicked plots are hatched, exciting rescues staged, and where the power of friendship can be a match for even the most dastardly of villains.
Jane is spending the summer with her odd new friend, Staffa, going to parties and wearing fancy dresses. Staffa's slightly scary mother, Lady Matilda, tells crazy stories, drinks a vile-smelling tea, and never strays far from a glowing painted box that the girls are under strict orders never, ever to open. But Jane can't resist; upon opening it, she is sucked into an amazing and terrifying new world so small that insects are the size of horses. Jane knows she must escape immediately or be trapped forever. But first, she has to wrangle a flying bumblebee, rescue the king, and free the people of Eck.
Kate Saunders's The Little Secret takes readers into a wildly imaginative miniaturized world of castle balls, death-defying bee riders, and giant racing spiders. A world where wicked plots are hatched, exciting rescues staged, and where the power of friendship can be a match for even the most dastardly of villains.
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Overview
Jane is spending the summer with her odd new friend, Staffa, going to parties and wearing fancy dresses. Staffa's slightly scary mother, Lady Matilda, tells crazy stories, drinks a vile-smelling tea, and never strays far from a glowing painted box that the girls are under strict orders never, ever to open. But Jane can't resist; upon opening it, she is sucked into an amazing and terrifying new world so small that insects are the size of horses. Jane knows she must escape immediately or be trapped forever. But first, she has to wrangle a flying bumblebee, rescue the king, and free the people of Eck.
Kate Saunders's The Little Secret takes readers into a wildly imaginative miniaturized world of castle balls, death-defying bee riders, and giant racing spiders. A world where wicked plots are hatched, exciting rescues staged, and where the power of friendship can be a match for even the most dastardly of villains.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781250106391 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Square Fish |
| Publication date: | 12/08/2015 |
| Sold by: | Macmillan |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 240 |
| Lexile: | 680L (what's this?) |
| File size: | 2 MB |
| Age Range: | 8 - 11 Years |
About the Author
Kate Saunders worked as an actress until she was twenty-five and then became a writer. She has written books for children, books for adults, and many, many articles for magazines and newspapers. She lives with her family (and her cats) in London. She has never ridden a bee, but she's certainly had an adventure or two.
William Carman draws pictures in his studio in Boise, Idaho, where he also has a family. Though his house is more like an Animal Garden than a Boy Garden, he enjoys living there anyway. He has received many honors for his artwork, including a Society of Illustrators Gold Medal. Whenever he has a chance, he fishes.
KATE SAUNDERS was a journalist whose work appeared in The Independent, The Guardian and The Washington Post. She was a founder of the Legal Research Group and was active in the campaign for Harry Wu's release.
She lived in London.
Read an Excerpt
The Little Secret
By Kate Saunders, William Carman
Macmillan
Copyright © 2006 Kate Saunders.All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-250-10639-1
CHAPTER 1
THE NEW GIRL
On Monday morning there was a new girl in Jane's class. She stood at the front beside Mrs. Burrows.
"Everyone," said Mrs. Burrows. "This is Staffa. She's spending a few weeks with us until the end of term."
"How do you do," Staffa said.
Everyone stared. Jane thought Staffa was the oddest girl she had ever seen. She must have been eleven, like the rest of the class. But she was as small as an eight-year-old, and very skinny. She had two long braids of shiny black hair. Her skin was paper white, and you could see the blue veins in her spindly little arms. She wore a stiff dress of dark red velvet, white socks and polished black shoes. Jane thought she looked like one of the old-fashioned children in books about the Second World War. Ellie and Angie, the other two girls in the class, had started tittering behind their hands.
Staffa stared right back, not at all shy. She looked carefully at every face in the classroom. This did not take long. Lower Lumpton Primary was a very small school, in a very small town that was really a large village. There were only ten children in the whole of sixth grade.
"Welcome to our school, Staffa," said Mrs. Burrows. "Why don't you tell us something about yourself?"
"There's not much to tell," Staffa said. "I was brought up in a very remote place in the far north. My mother and I are traveling 'round the country, on our annual tour of interesting places. We're resting here for a while, before we make our long journey home, and I'm hoping to make a new best friend."
Staffa's voice was babyish and squeaky, but she spoke like a posh and rather nutty old lady. She sounded hilarious, and the whole class was giggling. Jane tried to keep a straight face because it felt mean to laugh at someone new, but even Mrs. Burrows was smiling.
"Thank you, Staffa. I'm sure you'll make lots of new friends."
"Oh, I'm only looking for one," Staffa said.
The giggles got louder.
"Settle down!" warned Mrs. Burrows.
Staffa did not seem to care about being laughed at. She smiled graciously. "Please don't worry about me, Mrs. Burrows. My life has been rich and varied, and I'm quite used to new experiences. Shall I sit next to that boy with the red hair?"
"Boy with —? Oh, you mean Jane!"
The class exploded into a roar of laughter.
Jane felt that if she blushed any harder, her ears would catch fire. This weird new girl had mistaken her for a boy and mentioned her hair. She couldn't have said anything worse. The two things Jane hated most about her life were her red hair and the fact that she had to wear boys' clothes.
"Jane's certainly not a boy," Mrs. Burrows said with a kind look at Jane and a stern look at the rest of the class. "I expect you thought she was a boy because she has her lovely hair tied back."
"But she's dressed as a boy," Staffa said. She pointed at Jane's Manchester United sweatshirt. "She's wearing some sort of soccer costume."
There was another burst of laughter. The boys at the back shouted "soccer costume!" in silly posh voices.
Mrs. Burrows told them to be quiet, but she was laughing too. "I don't know where you've been for the past fifty years, Staffa. These days, it's perfectly normal for girls to wear soccer stuff. Look." She put her foot on a chair, hitched up her trouser leg and showed the class her Arsenal sock. "Even old lady teachers do it."
The fire in Jane's face cooled. She was grateful to Mrs. Burrows for taking the attention away from her, but it wasn't much good when the new girl had to sit right beside her. It was the only empty place in the class.
Staffa sat down in the empty place. "Well, this is cozy," she said. She opened an old-fashioned brown leather satchel and began unpacking pencils and paper. "Sorry I thought you were a boy."
"Right, everybody," said Mrs. Burrows. "Let's get started."
"Yes, do carry on," Staffa said. "I'll soon get into the swing of things."
She spoke to Mrs. Burrows like a royal person on an official visit.
Jane wished the new girl had sat somewhere else, but she couldn't help being interested in her. She was tiny and she wore babyish clothes, yet she was not like a child. Staffa filled in her math sheet quickly and neatly. When she handed it in at the end of the lesson, she said, "Forgive the gaps, Mrs. Burrows — long division was always my Achilles' heel."
At break, Staffa sat on the low playground wall. She took a Thermos out of her satchel and poured herself a cup of strong black coffee. Jane thought it smelled disgusting. She was curious. What kind of eleven-year-old drank black coffee?
Ellie and Angie called Jane over to their corner of the playground. Normally, these two spent most of their time whispering together and ignoring Jane. Today, they needed her so they could whisper about Staffa.
Ellie said, "You'd never get me in a dress like that. It looks like curtains."
Angie said, "Her shoes are stupid too — toddler's shoes. And she's got a stupid name."
"I quite like her name," Jane said. She was surprised that she wanted to stick up for the new girl. "It's different."
"Oh, like you've got such great taste," Ellie said scornfully.
"Janey!" Jane's younger brothers, Mike and Phil, yelled at her from the other side of the playground. "Come and play soccer! We need another man!"
Angie giggled. "Does Staffa know you're a girl yet?"
"She thinks you're a red-haired boy," Ellie said. "She probably likes you."
Jane scowled and ran off to play soccer, hating Ellie and Angie. She could swear they got sillier every year. All they talked about was clothes and makeup. If only the new girl had been someone she could talk to sensibly.
But Staffa didn't seem to want to talk at all. She spent the rest of break sipping coffee and looking at her watch. When they returned to the classroom, she yawned and stared out of the window.
At lunchtime, she turned to Jane. "I assume that smell of boiled socks is our midday meal."
This made Jane smile — the school lunch did smell rather like boiled socks. "It's okay when you eat it," she said. "I'll show you where we go." Someone had to look after Staffa.
And I suppose it'll have to be me, Jane thought crossly, because there isn't anyone else — just my luck to get stuck with the oddball.
She led Staffa into the lunch hall. Staffa immediately went over to one of the long tables and sat down.
"Is there a menu?" she asked. "Or does one ask the waiting woman?"
Jane swallowed a snort of laughter. She did not believe this girl — Staffa was lucky nobody else had heard her. "We don't sit down until we've gotten our food," she explained. "We have to line up at the window."
Staffa was fascinated. She loved standing in line. She loved watching the lunch ladies, as they spooned out chicken nuggets, baked beans and mountains of fries. She loved the school fries. "These chipped potatoes are delicious! And how clever to put ketchup bottles next to the knives and forks!"
Jane wondered what kind of school Staffa had come from. It must have been a very fancy school, she thought, if it really did have menus and "waiting women."
"This is a highly efficient way of feeding large numbers of people," piped Staffa. "I must tell my mother. She's always trying to cut costs in the servants' canteen."
Jane wished Staffa would stop talking. Couldn't she see that everyone else at the table was staring, and whispering behind their hands? It was very embarrassing.
When she had finished her fries, Staffa wiped her mouth with a lace handkerchief. She stood up. "Let's have our coffee outside."
Jane said, "Wait — we can't just walk out. We have to take the dirty plates back to the kitchen."
Staffa was surprised. "Really? Don't the servants clear the tables?"
Unfortunately, everyone else around the table heard this.
One of the boys — a very nasty boy named Damian Budge — shouted, "Where d'you think you are — Hogwarts?"
Staffa's pale, chilly blue eyes were serious. "You must be patient with me. I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about."
"Oh, I'm such a posh cow!" squeaked Damian.
Jane said, "Leave her alone."
"Why d'you care? Are you her boyfriend, or something?"
"It's not her fault she's different," Jane said, scowling at him. "Leave her alone, Budge. She's not doing you any harm."
She stood up, took the plates back to the kitchen and almost dragged Staffa out to the playground.
"Thanks for defending me," Staffa said.
"That's okay. But maybe you should try to be a bit less — I mean, not so ..." Jane was struggling for the right words.
Staffa smiled. "It's the way I speak, isn't it? Don't worry, I won't be offended. I can see how kind you are, Jane." Her peaky, china-doll face radiated happiness. "I think you're exactly the friend I've been looking for!"
For the rest of that day, Staffa did not take her eyes off Jane. It is very uncomfortable to be stared at by a person who is right beside you. Every time Jane looked up, there were Staffa's pale eyes, inches from her own. She gave Jane secret smiles, as if the two of them were suddenly the best friends in the world. But Jane was not sure she wanted to be Staffa's best friend. The smiling and the staring were creepy, and she was relieved when it was time to go home.
Jane found her brothers in the crowd around the big gate, cheerfully hitting each other with their backpacks. Mike and Phil were identical twins of eight years old, always easy to spot because of their mops of shaggy white-blond hair.
"Come on," she said. "Let's get out of here." She almost ran through the gate.
"Slow down!" shouted Phil.
Out in the street, Mike tugged at Jane's sleeve. "Why's SHE coming with us?"
Jane turned around, and there was Staffa, right behind her. She suddenly looked particularly small — hardly bigger than the twins — and rather scarily delicate. Jane stopped being annoyed. She couldn't shout at someone who looked as if she could be blown away like a leaf.
She took a deep breath. "Look, Staffa, you've driven me mad all day, and now you're stalking me. Why?"
"I thought I'd walk home with you," Staffa said.
"Don't you have a home of your own?"
"It's a long way away." For a moment, Staffa looked sad. "My mother and I are staying in King's Lumpton." This was the larger town nearby, where there were shops and a weekly market. "Mother won't be back yet. And it's dull to go back to an empty house."
Jane felt sorry for her. "D'you want to come over to my house, then?"
Staffa smiled. "I'd love to."
CHAPTER 2THE BOY GARDEN
Staffa and Jane walked in silence. Staffa was still smiling. Jane was uncomfortable. She had blurted out the invitation before she had time to think about it, and she wished there had been time to prepare her family. The house was such a dump. A posh, tidy sort of girl like Staffa would probably be horrified.
"I should warn you," she said, "it's a bit of a mess."
"My dear Jane," Staffa said. "I'm sure I shall find your home perfectly delightful."
They fell back into silence. Mike and Phil ran ahead, kicking their backpacks like dusty soccer balls.
Jane's family lived in a shabby house, surrounded by shabby fields, at the very edge of the village. You reached it by walking along a lane where there were no houses. As they turned down this lane, Staffa became chatty.
"I'm really very sorry about mistaking you for a boy." She linked arms with Jane. "But why do your parents make you wear boys' clothes?"
"Because I've got six brothers," Jane said.
"Six!" Staffa was intensely interested.
"I'm the only girl. There isn't any money for girls' clothes. I have to wear the boys' hand-me-downs."
"Poor you," Staffa said. "That's not fair. If you were the only boy in a family of girls, they wouldn't send you to school in a dress."
This was a good point, and it made Jane laugh. "What about you?" she asked, liking Staffa more. "Do you have brothers and sisters?"
"One brother," Staffa said.
"Older or younger?"
"Much older." Staffa didn't seem to want to talk about him, but Jane was too curious to stop.
"Is he traveling with you?"
"No. He had to go on army exercises."
"So he's a soldier?"
"No, he's a student. But never mind about him — he's boring." Staffa smiled. "I want to hear about every single one of your brothers. Will I meet the all today?"
"You won't meet Martin," Jane said. "He's the oldest. He's nineteen, and away at college. It's great when he's at home, because he's got a car. Does your brother have a car?"
"Yes, of course." Staffa was starting to sound a little cross. "Go on — tell me about the others."
Jane said, "After Martin there's Dan, who's seventeen. He's in high school. And then there's Jon, who's fifteen. My clothes mostly come down from Jon. They always have patches on the knees."
Staffa asked, "Where do they go to school?"
"They're at the high school in King's Lumpton. That's where I'm going in September." Jane glanced doubtfully at Staffa — so small and strange, so unfitted for life at a large secondary school. "I suppose you'll be going there too."
Staffa shook her head. "Mother and I will be gone by then."
"Oh." Jane couldn't quite bring herself to say it was a pity. She went on quickly, "Anyway, after Jon there's me, and after me there's the twins. And last of all there's little Ted. He's only one and a half."
Staffa half closed her eyes, and murmured, "Martin, Dan, Jon, You, Mike and Phil, little Ted."
"Yes, well done. It takes most people ages to sort us out."
"And do any of them have red hair, like yours?"
"Not like mine." Jane's long hair (which she hated, though her mother thought it beautiful) was a deep, dark red. "The others are brown or blond. Little Ted's is sort of orange, like a marmalade-colored cat."
"Oh, Jane, I was so lucky to find you!" Staffa sighed. "I've never had a best friend before."
"Hang on!" This was going too fast. Jane wasn't even sure she liked Staffa. "We can't be best friends yet — it takes time."
"You obviously need a female friend," Staffa said. "Those two silly girls in your class can't possibly satisfy a mind like yours."
They reached the front gate of Jane's house. "Well, here it is," she said. "Welcome to Pike Lane Farm. It's not really a farm — we only have the yard and the paddock. My mom calls it the Boy Garden. She says it's like a bear garden, only noisier."
"What's a bear garden?"
"I don't really know. I think it's just any place that's full of wild beasts."
Staffa chuckled. Her pointed little face sharpened with interest. She looked at the shabby house. She looked at the front yard, which was full of bikes and homemade wooden ramps. She looked at the old, serious horse who stood by the paddock fence.
"The horse is called Leonard," Jane said. "Even the animals here are boys."
The front door was open. The jerseys and backpacks of the twins lay in a heap on the doormat. Jane kicked the heap aside and led Staffa to the kitchen. As usual, the place was a cheerful mess.
Jane's mother was sitting at the kitchen table, feeding little Ted. Jane tried to imagine how they might look to someone posh. Mom's tracksuit was old and baggy. Her hair was tied back with a pair of tights. Little Ted's sweet, pudgy face was covered with stripes of purple marker. He shouted when he saw Jane, and banged his wooden hammer on the tray of his high chair.
Jane laughed. She kissed the top of his head. His marmalade-colored hair was blobbed with tomato sauce. "What've you done to your face, Mr. Silly?"
"He somehow got hold of a purple pen," Jane's mom said. "I turned my back for one moment, and the next thing I knew he was covered with it. It won't wash off, so we'd better get used to it."
Jane looked back at Staffa, wondering if she was shocked by this sordid scene. Staffa was certainly surprised, but she was also smiling. For the first time that day, she looked like a real child. Jane saw that she loved the Boy Garden, and had another moment of liking her.
"Mom," she said, "this is Staffa. She's come to play, if that's okay."
Mom smiled. "'Course it's okay — you know I'm always glad to see another girl. Hi, Staffa."
"How do you do, Mrs. Hughes," said Staffa. "It's very nice to meet you."
"Janey, get some toast and chocolate cookies, just for yourself and Staffa. I'll feed the rabble when little Ted's finished."
Staffa ate her toast next to little Ted. She watched him with fascination. He smacked her face with his fat wet hand, but she only laughed. Little Ted kindly offered her his soggy crusts, and she pretended to eat them. Every now and then, she said shyly to Mom, "He's so sweet!"
The peace did not last for long. Mike and Phil ran into the kitchen, shouting for juice and cookies. The front door slammed. Dan and Jon came in from their school. They were both taller than Mom, with deep voices you could feel in the floor. The room was suddenly bursting with people. Jane was worried that Staffa would feel overwhelmed, but she was still smiling. She was not at all shy with the big boys, and she jumped up eagerly when Dan suggested they should go out into the backyard.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Little Secret by Kate Saunders, William Carman. Copyright © 2006 Kate Saunders.. Excerpted by permission of Macmillan.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Title Page,Copyright Notice,
Dedication,
The New Girl,
The Boy Garden,
Lady Matilda,
An Invitation,
Travels with a Box,
The Light,
The House at the Edge of the World,
A Truffle as Big as the Ritz,
The Eckers,
The Old Princess,
Silver Threads Among the Gold,
A Day at the Races,
The Norahs,
The Chosen Bride,
Fatilda,
The Bee Farm,
The Diamond Saw,
Freedom,
About the Author,
Copyright,