In the StoryThe School Fair
In six weeks, a child will die at the school fair. Mara is the only one who remembers. Parents prepare the booths, teachers assign tasks, children look forward to their day. For Mara Ellis, every detail of the program already foretells a tragedy. She wants to warn without terrifying, to persuade without becoming the person everyone avoids in the schoolyard.
Open the novel ↗A moment in the opening pages
Mara spread out the plan. An A4 sheet printed too dark, school buildings in gray rectangles and stalls labeled by Sophie Wren in marker: SAUSAGES, BOOKS, RAFFLE, FACE PAINTING. A blue arrow ran from the main gate through the playground to the small oval, where the inflatables were planned. At the lower right edge, a piece of the grounds was missing. The plan stopped abruptly after the music block.Read the excerpt ↗