Sophie Wills grew up in Chelmsford, Essex. She failed the 11+, had a weekend job at a boarding kennels where she suffered workplace bullying from a goat and nurtured a dream to have a career she could do in her pyjamas. She worked at two London publishers before finally achieving her ambition by going freelance in 2003. She entered Mumsnet’s first Bedtime Story competition in 2012 and Michael Rosen picked out as a winner her story about a pigriding sheriff. Since then, she has been writing offbeat and funny stories for 8-12-year-olds, including ‘The Orphans of St Halibut’s’.
Life has been perfect ever since the orphans of St Halibut’s buried their matron – don’t look like that, it was an accident! Tig, Stef, Herc, and Pamela the goat just have to make sure nobody finds out they’re on their own. Discovering that an Inspector is on his way, they’ll need to convince him that everything is peachy or they’ll be sent to the Mending House – where badly behaved orphans go, never to return. But the Inspector is not quite what he seems and things very quickly go from bad to spectacularly out of hand… Stolen cakes, major explosions and an unforgettable cast of characters – dive into this hilarious caper from debut author Sophie Wills and million-copy bestselling illustrator, David Tazzyman.
‘Stupendous and hilarious! Hapless heroes, slime ball villains, and a volatile goat. Deliciously disgusting at times, and filled to the brim with Sophie’s dark humour. Perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket.’ – Hana Tooke, author of ‘The Unadoptables’
‘Deliciously funny, dark, eccentric and clever’ – Nicola Penfold, author of ‘Where the World Turns Wild’
‘A fabulously funny tale of clever orphans, rambling houses, angry goats and grizzly ends . . . made me laugh out loud!’ – Kirsty Applebaum, author of ‘The Middler’
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