This Wonderful Thing

From the author of bestselling and Carnegie-nominated debut BOY UNDERWATER comes a moving and hilarious novel for 10+ readers about friendships, family secrets, mystery – and life-changing hidden treasure…

Jessica is playing with her family at the river when she finds a dirty, bedraggled teddy bear in the water.

She has no idea that it will change everything, forever.

Meanwhile, Cymbeline comes home from school to find that his mum’s house has been broken into – and the thieves seemed oddly focused on his toys. Thank goodness he had Not Mr Fluffy, his Bear of Most Extreme Importance, with him.

Soon, Jessica and Cymbeline find themselves swept up in a mystery that spans decades, threatens their families, and turns their lives upside down.

But sometimes, just maybe, a new life can be a really wonderful thing…

Reviews

Praise for Boy Underwater:

‘An absolute corker of a tale, whose delicate themes – mental health, missing loved ones – are handled with fluid grace’ Observer

‘This poignant novel is about love and loss, but, told from the viewpoint of a child too young to grasp all that grown-ups do, it is also funny. With evocative monochrome illustrations, it bears you up as soon as you plunge in’ Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week

‘Involving and wryly funny, full of tenderness, eccentricity and intriguing meditations on the function of art, this story of grief, depression and the different facets of identity is well-served by Benji Davies’s thoughtful illustrations’ Guardian

‘The witty humour and dialogue are the perfect foil to the unresolved grief and anxiety that underpin this impressive debut’ Daily Mail

About the author

Adam Baron is the author of five successful novels and has, in his time, been an actor, comedian, journalist and press officer at Channel 4 television (as well as things he’s too embarrassed to mention). He now runs the widely respected MA in Creative Writing at Kingston University London. Adam lives in Greenwich, South London, with his wife and three young children. He wrote Boy Underwater (his first novel aimed at younger readers) because they told him to. While still in the flush of youth he knows what his final words are going to be: ‘clear the table’.