Early 1960s - Newcastle, UK

It's half-term, and when eleven-year old Meggie's feckless dad doesn't pay the coal man and her family have no hot water she takes matters into her own hands. With her younger brother, Jack, she sets off to find the free coal she knows can be found in the dangerous pit heaps opposite their village. When she and Jack return home from their adventure, she's punished.

Meggie passes the 11-Plus exam and has a chance to go to the grammar school in Newcastle, but she'll have to live with her grandparents, who she hardly knows. She decides to leave her family for Newcastle and take her chances at the grammar school.

She and her new friend, paperboy Dave Spedding, soon discover that Grandad's shop assistant, the Codmother, and her sinister son, Billy Fish, are ripping off her grandparents. The police don't seem to be doing anything so Meggie and Dave decide to catch the thieves themselves, with dangerous consequences.

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• Literature & FictionGenre FictionSagas

• Publication Date: January 13, 2014
• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 265 Pages
• File Size: 738 KB