Om Shanti, Babe Read online

  I turned away from the window and looked at Lula. Her eyes were closed, but she wasn’t asleep. I took hold of her hand and she gave my fingers a squeeze.

  ‘So Cass, my lovely, clever girl, was India as you expected?’ she asked, smiling at me.

  ‘No, Mum. It was totally and utterly different and I can’t wait to go back!’

  The plane rolled to a stop and I reached into my bag for the present Dev had given me. Inside the package was a CD marked “Om Shanti, Babe Kerala remix”. I smiled, remembering the day in Uncle V’s workshop. Just before I left, Nandita had shown me some proper Indian dance moves and I was looking forward to practising them when I got home.

  The doors opened and a rush of cold air came into the cabin. It reminded me of setting off on our journey to India. It seemed a very long time ago....

  In just a few weeks, a whole world of nicey-spicey-karma-cookie possibilities had shimmied their way into my head. I had lots to look forward to, and yes, everything was going to be all right. Om Shanti.

  is the winner of the 2011 Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award

  The Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award was founded jointly by Frances Lincoln Limited and Seven Stories, in memory of Frances Lincoln (1945-2001) to encourage and promote diversity in children’s fiction.

  The Award is for a manuscript that celebrates cultural diversity in the widest possible sense, either in terms of its story or the ethnic and cultural origins of its author.

  The prize of £1500, is awarded to the best work of unpublished fiction for 8-12-year-olds by a writer aged 16 years or over, who has not previously published a novel for children. The winner of the Award is chosen by an independent panel of judges.

  Please see the Frances Lincoln or Seven Stories website for further details.

  www.franceslincoln.com

  www.sevenstories.org.uk

  The running and administration of the Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award is led by Seven Stories, in Newcastle upon Tyne. Seven Stories is Britain’s children’s literature museum. It brings the wonderful world of children’s books to life through lively exhibitions and inspiring learning and events programmes. Seven Stories is saving Britain’s children’s literature by building a unique archive that shows how authors and illustrators turn their thoughts and ideas into finished books of stories, poems and pictures.

  Seven Stories believes that children should be able to choose books that reflect the lives of children from different cultures in the world today. Frances Lincoln, in whose memory the Award was founded, had an unswerving commitment to finding talented writers who brought new voices, characters, places and plots to children’s books.

  Frances Lincoln Limited and Seven Stories gratefully acknowledge the support of Arts & Business for the Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award.

  About the Author

  HELEN LIMON, winner of the 2011 Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Award, started writing in 2000, when she set up a children’s literature project in Newcastle which turned into a publishing venture for local authors and illustrators. She teaches creative writing at Newcastle University, and has also run workshops for organisation such as Oxfam, in Russia. She spent much of her childhood as the eternal ‘new girl at school’ as her father’s job, running development projects for the UN, took the family around the world. The inspiration for her debut novel, Om Shanti, Babe, came from encounters with local people on a visit to Kerala in 2009, which made her conscious of the social and environmental themes that she subsequently wove into her book. Helen lives in rural Northumberland with her partner, a painter, and has one daughter, who is studying tailoring in London.

  TOO MUCH TROUBLE

  Tom Avery

  “Get out, Emmanuel!” growled my uncle. “Take your brother and go.”

  But where can two boys go when they’re on their own, on the run, with little money or food? All 12-year-old Emmanuel knows is that he has to look after Prince. Those were his father’s last words to him.

  On the train to London, Em and Prince have no idea where they will end up – but then they meet the mysterious Mr Green and his ‘friends’. And that’s when things start to spin out of control ...

  “This action-packed, contemporary Oliver Twist story is a real page-turner”

  Trevor Phillips, Diverse Voices Award judge and Chair, Equality and Human Rights Commission

  IN TOO DEEP

  Tom Avery

  “It’s father,” my brother said. “He’s in trouble. We’ve got to get him, Em.” My brother stared at me for a moment and then nodded. “We’ve got to get him.”

  What’s it like if your mother suddenly reappears after four long years? And if you find out your father is trapped in Tanzania, working for gangsters in order to pay off an impossible debt – a debt that may mean he will never see you again? Brothers Prince and Emmanuel only know that they MUST reunite their family, that if they are ever to be happy again, they HAVE to get their dad back, whatever it takes. And so the boys come up with a daring plan to get themselves on a plane to Africa...

  Tom Avery’s edge-of-the-seat thriller, continuing the story of Too Much Trouble, takes Prince and Em into deep and murky waters.

  TAKESHITA DEMONS

  Cristy Burne

  “OK,” said Cait. “So how do we know if we’re looking at nukekubi demons or real people?” “Easy,” I replied. “Red marks on their necks if it’s daytime, and airborne screaming heads if it’s not.” We both laughed, but it really wasn’t funny. “Screaming?” Cait asked. “Yep. They scream, then they swoop down and tear chunks from your throat with their teeth.” “Right,” said Cait. “Don’t panic if I see a man-eating flying head. Good. This is going well.”

  Miku Takeshita knows she’s in trouble when her supply teacher turns out to be a nukekubi – and when Japanese demons kidnap her baby brother Kazu, it’s up to Miku and her best friend Cait to break into their snow-blocked school and get him back...

  “A pacy horror adventure”

  The Sunday Times

  TAKESHITA DEMONS:

  THE FILTH LICKER

  Cristy Burne

  Every face around the fire was staring at me, their skin flickering in the shadows, their eyes and teeth glowing white. “And then?” Mr James asked. “And then...” I willed my voice to stay steady. “When the last story is told, the fire goes out. A new evil is created. And a new, powerful demon comes into being.”

  School Camps are supposed to be fun, but Cait’s acting peculiar, Oscar is covered in a festering rash, and there’s a Filth Licker living in the boys’ toilets. Can Miku save her friends from the evil that is rising? And what about the Filth Licker? Whose side is he really on? In the forest, nothing is what it seems....

  “This series is just getting better and better.”

  Spinechills

  TAKESHITA DEMONS:

  MONSTER MATSURI

  Cristy Burne

  The thing was rippling far above us.

  It had no arms, no legs, no head, no eyes, though it seemed to know exactly where we were. And it was definitely a quilt...

  Things are looking more dangerous than ever... There’s a murderous quilt spirit in Alex’s bedroom. And then Kazu is kidnapped – again. Miku, Cait and Alex must follow the cryptic clues to get him back, and defeat the most evil demon of all. Armed with a peculiar poem, a broken teacup, sardine-heads and a seed pod, they venture through the invisible wall into the House of the Demons.

  But who is the supreme leader of the demons? Not the ghoul-woman with barbed hair, or even the malicious Demon of Heaven. Someone else has Kazu trapped and will stop at nothing to capture Miku...

  Dedication and Copyright

  This book is dedicated to families.

  The families we are born into, the families we find, and the families we make.

  Om Shanti.

  Om Shanti, Babe copyright © Frances Lincoln 2012

  The right of
Helen Limon to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (United Kingdom).

  First published in Great Britain and in the USA in 2012 by

  Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, 4 Torriano Mews,

  Torriano Avenue, London NW5 2RZ

  www.franceslincoln.com

  This eBook edition first published in 2012

  All rights reserved

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electrical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying. In the United Kingdom such licences are issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirkby Street, London EC1N 8TS.

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  eBook conversion by CPI Group

  ISBN 978 1 781010 99 0