Essential Modern Classics are relaunched in gorgeous new covers bringing these timeless story to a new generation.

Robert is a boy who can do anything – or so old Edith Sorrel at the nursing home tells him. Robert doesn’t think so, knowing as he does that he is the school geek. But something compels him to do what Edith asks – to visit old Chance House, where a boy once fell to his death from the top floor flat, to confront his fears and find some answers.

Niker the bully thinks this is a great laugh. He challenges Robert to spend the night at Chance House with him – but there the balance of power changes, and it is Robert who proves to be the stronger.

Niker feels threatened by the change – and when he finds out Robert’s secret obsession, to make the dying Edith Sorrel a coat of feathers like in the old legend of the Firebird, he knows just how to wrest his old power back. But just how important is the coat of feathers? Could it really save Edith’s life?

Author Biography

Nicky Singer was born in 1956 and has worked in publishing, the arts and television. She began her writing career at the age of 15, with lyrics for a cantata Jonah and the Whale, and has since written four adult novels – To Still the Child, To Have and to Hold, What She Wanted and My Mother’s Daughter – and two works of non-fiction – The Tiny Book of Time (with Kim Pickin) and The Little Book of the Millennium (with Jackie Singer).

She was co-founder and co-director (1987-1996) of Performing Arts Labs, a charity dedicated to training new writers for theatre, screen and opera. In 1995 she presented BBC2’s highly acclaimed documentary series on women’s fertility, Labours of Eve, and wrote the preface to the book which accompanied the series.

Feather Boy, Nicky’s first novel for the younger market, won the Blue Peter Book Award in 2002. It is a compelling, utterly convincing account of young teen life, written in an unforgettable voice. Her agent, Clare Conville, described Feather Boy as, “One of the best children’s books I have read since becoming an agent.”

Nicky Singer lives in Brighton with her husband, their two sons and a daughter.

We are committed to protecting your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act and working with our suppliers to assist with warranty claims. Products sold by Mighty Ape will be covered by a Manufacturer's Warranty for at least a one-year period from the date of purchase.

Your warranty will cover any manufacturing defects which, if existing, will present themselves within this warranty period.

Your warranty will not cover normal wear and tear, faults caused by misuse, and accidents which cause damage or theft caused after delivery. Using the product in a way it is not designed for will void your warranty.

Please refer to our Help Centre for more information.