Shortlisted for the Bookseller Young Adult Book Prize 2015.
One of our Books of the Year 2014 Award-winning David Almond is at his lyrical best in this eloquent, tender and ultimately devastating contemporary teenage love story which draws lightly but to great effect on the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. Camping on a beach near home as a break from school and its pressures, a group of teenagers, minus their friend Ella, come across Orpheus, a wandering musician. No one knows where he comes from or whether he will appear again but his music is so special that Claire plays it down the phone to Ella. And Ella is entranced. But who is Orpheus? The power of love and the terrible danger it can pose drives this exceptionally touching and thoughtful story. ~ Julia Eccleshare
'I'm the one who's left behind. I'm the one to tell the tale. I knew them both, knew how they lived and how she died.' Ella Grey and her friends are ordinary kids from ordinary families in an ordinary world. They fall in and out of love, play music, stare at the stars, yearn for excitement, and have parties on the beautiful beaches of Northumberland. One day a stranger – a musician called Orpheus – appears on the beach, entrancing them all, but particularly Ella. Where have they come from and what path will Ella follow? A Song for Ella Grey is a version of the myth of Orpheus that sings of the madness of youth, the ache of love, and the near-impossibility of grasping death. Zoe Cooper's stage adaptation of David Almond's award-winning novel was first produced in 2024 by Pilot Theatre, in association with Northern Stage and York Theatre Royal. This edition includes the full text of the play along with a range of teaching materials and resources designed to help educators bring the play to life for their students. Praise for the novel: 'Infused with lyricism and with the fire and oddness of adolescence. Fresh, involving and lucid, it is a song in itself and teens will find it fills them with poignant longing and joy' Telegraph 'The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is retold against a wild Northumbrian landscape: life, death, love and myths. Just wonderful' Bookseller 'Extraordinary' Metro 'Spell-binding… impossible to resist' Herald
