Kate Gilby Smith, who was born on the island of Guernsey, has released her latest children’s book.
It was daydreaming during a philosophy of time travel seminar at Edinburgh University that she first had the idea for her debut novel The Astonishing Future of Alex Nobody.
Kate currently lives in London where she works as a publicist for science, philosophy and history books. Her writing for children is inspired by her love of all three topics.
As a child she loved books that made her think and now she hopes to write books for children that do just that.
In the new book, ‘Olive Jones and the memory thief‘, Olive has just inherited her grandmother’s memories and a mystery along with it. Now it’s up to Olive to solve it.
After her grandmother’s funeral, Olive learns she has inherited something unexpected: her grandmother’s memories.
Olive is surprised – her grandmother wasn’t a cuddly, affectionate kind of grandmother. Curious about what she might discover, Olive sets out to ‘watch’ the memories. But before she can, they’re stolen right from under her nose. Olive can’t understand why anybody would want to steal them. As far as she’d known, her grandmother had always lived an utterly ordinary life.
Following the trail of the thief, Olive begins to discover that her grandmother’s life wasn’t at all what she thought. As she unravels the secrets lurking in her grandmother’s past, she discovers clues Grandma Sylvie left her. It’s up to Olive to solve the mystery of the memory thief, and in the process, learn about the incredible life and adventures of the grandmother she has never really known.
Filled with gadgets, mystery and a heart-warming family story, Kate Gilby-Smith’s second novel for middle grade readers is an immediate and engaging adventure with a futuristic twist which will especially appeal to girls interested in STEAM subjects.
