The O’Brien Press

Until the whispers began, Joshua was like all the other village boys, helping out at the market, making a little money from the tourists, getting up to mischief.

So what if his father was the only butcher in a village of fishermen, a loner who preferred to spend his evenings carving wood? Is it true what everyone is saying -- that Joshua's father is a 'mountain man', one of the people feared and mistrusted by the villagers?

When Joshua's life takes an surprising turn, he discovers that being different does matter. Maybe it's not enough to be just Joshua?

Born in the Yorkshire Dales, Jan Michael spent an idyllic childhood there and in the Seychelles, also living in Lesotho and Pakistan. Since university, she has worked as an editor and literary agent in London, Amsterdam and Yorkshire. She has written thirteen books which have been published in several languages, including the children’s novels Hill of Darkness, The Rock Boy (also performed as children’s opera in Germany), Just Joshua (winner: Dutch Vlag en Wimpel prize), Leaving Home (winner: Dutch Silver Slate Pencil and the Jenny Smelik-IBBY Prize) and Moorside Boy.

'The appeal of Just Joshua is universal in its attempt to describe a child trying to find a place for himself in the world.'

The School Librarian
Clare Morpurgo - The School Librarian

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