by Christine Doran
About the Books
BOOK FOUR, Lilac in Sunshine, is OUT NOW!
'The music stopped with a screech at almost the same moment as they saw the DJ fall spectacularly off the stage. It looked like his turntable had been yanked from beneath him by some swiftly moving object.'
Primary school has ended and 12-year-old Lilac and her friends are all feeling a little unsure about the changes to come. Luckily, there’s a whole summer to get through first, and a family holiday to Spain provides plenty of distraction, with new friends and new experiences, not to mention smuggling Guzzler the dog on the car ferry.
When what happened in Spain doesn’t exactly stay in Spain, though, Lilac has to face up to a few truths. Are there just two types of people? Who was really behind the chaos at the campsite disco? Above all, can enemies ever be friends?
BOOK THREE - Lilac Blue.
Lilac is in sixth class now, and Margery is home from Canada. Their new teacher wants them to have a social conscience, but the girls are more concerned with issues closer to home. Add the third book to your Lilac the Girl collection.
'So there's a bit of a war going on at the moment. Boys against girls. You know how it is.'
Sometimes you want to solve the world's really big problems. Other times it's hard enough to solve the problems you caused when you were trying to solve those first ones.
Lilac is reading her granny's recently discovered diary hoping for comfort and guidance, but what she finds there raises more questions than it answers. Was Granny really a spy? Who was the man with the fascinating eyebrows? And what's the story with all the pineapples?
BOOK TWO, Lilac in Scarlet, continues the story of what happened to Lilac for the rest of the year. It's now available in print and as an ebook.
Here's the back-cover blurb for Lilac in Scarlet:
The bishop looked all cross and muttered ‘What? What?’ and he shouted ‘LILAC SHROVE?’ as if he had never heard of either of those names in his life. And not as if he felt they were both beautiful names that he’d just never thought of before, either. I nodded and he went really purple and said, very slowly, ‘Shrove is not the name of a saint.’ I was scarlet.
Sometimes Lilac feels as if she spends her life going from one mortifying event to the next, with barely a pause between. Even things that are meant to be fun, like her birthday party, end up turning her pink with embarrassment.
But there’s a mystery to solve and a burglar to catch, not to mention her teacher’s wedding to plan. Can Lilac and her friends (and ever-faithful Guzzler the dog) take control of the situation and save the day? Or will Lilac be scarlet once again?
BOOK ONE - Lilac in Black and White.
You can buy it from Amazon as a physical book or a Kindle ebook, and in various other ebook formats from Smashwords. (The ebook is nice, but the print edition is nicer. It has different fonts for Lilac and Margery's letters to each other, and a smooth purple cover, and that lovely new-book smell.)
Here's the lowdown:
‘Are we really going to do this?’ Lilac asked, the full reality of what they were planning hitting her for the first time.
‘Which one?’ said Agatha in a low voice.
Lilac surveyed the birds. As usual, they were loitering in small groups, looking like fat waiters waiting for the dinner rush to start.
But Agatha –’ Lilac began, as Agatha reached down and made a grab for the penguin, who was still following the sharp fishy smell of the anchovy, ‘– wait, don’t…’
Lilac McCarthy lives in a tall house by the Irish sea with a father who paints pictures, a mother who writes books, and a very bouncy dog called Guzzler. Her best friend is moving to Canada, her babysitter uses words she doesn’t understand, and the new girl in school is fascinating but a bit odd. When Lilac’s class goes on a trip to the local aquarium, Lilac decides the penguins are in peril, and hatches a madcap plan to save them.
Lilac in Black and White is a tale of (mostly) realistic adventure for readers of 9 to 12, or anyone who loves a view of the Irish sea.
