Twenty-Four Hours

by Margaret Mahy

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Book cover for Twenty-Four Hours

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Compelling drama in which 17-year-old Ellis comes to terms with the meaning of death…

Ellis is an ordinary 17-year-old; someone who’s planning to finish school and go to university like any other teenager. The difference is that four months ago, his best friend Simon killed himself. Still – that was four months ago. Ellis has now ‘got over it’.

Except, of course, he hasn’t. Returning to his home town, he gets drawn into a situation in which the ‘old’ Ellis would never have become embrangled. He gatecrashes a party and persuaded to ‘rescue’ two sisters – Ursa and Leo, driving them back to the Land of Smiles – the ex-motel where they live.

From that moment on, nothing is the same again. The story is narrated hour-by-hour, as Ellis packs a life-time of experiences into the next twenty-four hours. Giving in to high spirits and booze, Ellis wakes next morning in a strange bed, with a stonking hangover and a shaven head! He learns that a child has been kidnapped, and is persuaded to help in her rescue…

This is a bizarre, surreal and powerful novel in which the reader is taken on the same roller-coaster ride as Ellis.

  • ISBN13 9780006755418
  • Publish Date 8 May 2001 (first published 4 September 2000)
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country GB
  • Imprint HarperCollins Children's Books