Twist Of Gold By Michael Morpurgo (Paperback, 2007)

An epic journey through famine hope and survival from War Horse author and former Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo Thirteen year old Sean and ten year old Annie have one chance to escape the potato famine and plague in Ireland They survive a shipwreck and land safely in America searching for their father But their new land is one of hardship and they live in poverty on the streets of Boston Follow them as they busk in a city street run a riverboat join a wagon train across the prairies and dig for gold A gripping historical adventure from the master storyteller of An Eagle in the Snow Listen to the Moon Shadow and An Elephant in the Garden ------Former Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo needs no introduction He is one of the most successful children's authors in the country loved by
children teachers and parents alike Michael has written more than forty books for children including the global hit War Horse which was made into a Hollywood film by Steven Spielberg in 2011 Several of his other stories have been adapted for screen and stage including My Friend Walter Why the Whales Came and Kensuke's Kingdom Michael has won the Whitbread Award the Smarties Award the Circle of Gold Award the Children's Book Award and has been short-listed for the Carnegie Medal four times He started the charity Farms for City Children in 1976 with his wife Clare aimed at relieving the poverty of experience many young children feel in inner city and urban areas Michael is also a patron of over a dozen other charities Living in Devon listening to Mozart and working with children have
provided Michael with the ideas and incentive to write his stories He spends half his life mucking out sheds with the children feeding sheep or milking cows; the other half he spends dreaming up and writing stories for children For me the greater part of writing is daydreaming dreaming the dream of my story until it hatches out - the writing down of it I always find hard But I love finishing it then holding the book in my hand and sharing my dream with my readers Michael received an OBE in December 2006 for his services to literature