Press the button if you dare! #kidlit #freebook

Life’s no joke now we’ve all been grounded, particularly for kids who need distracting from all the bad news! If you have an avid young reader who’s running out of entertainment, you might like to check out my book Gateway to Magic – it’s FREE in the Smashwords Authors Give Back sale, which has just been extended to May 31.

The hero of Gateway to Magic is 11 year old Steven Topcliff, a sensitive and imaginative boy who’s learned to hide these qualities in order to ‘fit in’.  An only child, he lives in a well-ordered home with a loving family.  His Mum is a bit of a worrier, and her anxious nature has rubbed off on him.

Steven spends most of his time in his bedroom, glued to his games console.  He doesn’t want to think about the coming autumn, when he has to start comprehensive school – he’s heard rumours about rampant bullying and ridiculous amounts of homework.  The gaming world is a world he can control, where he can be a powerful hero.

Steven doesn’t believe in fairies or magic – that stuff is strictly for girls – so he’s horrified when he finds himself in Fairyland.  He’s even more horrified when he discovers there are no video games.  He has to learn to fit in all over again, in a place that’s far more dangerous than any school.  If he wants to get back to his own world, he’ll have to wake up that rusty imagination and use it for all he’s worth.

Likes:

• A video game called McDivott (it’s his favourite)
• Cartoons
• Chicken nuggets and chips

Dislikes:

• Fruit and vegetables
• Fungus (he’s allergic to it)
• His cousin Tracy

Reviews:

This story threw me back to Enid Blyton, but the snappy, witty dialogue gives a wink to adults reading it aloud. If I was still teaching, my young students and I would be settling down to this imaginative story in the classroom. Fiction is compellingly woven as fact (yes, I believe!) and Annabelle knows what makes children laugh. I particularly liked the bit about being the age you want to be, the Forest of Pointy Fingers and the ShapeWatchers Program. – Susan Lattwein, Amazon

Bought this because it’s about a boy who’s spending increasing amounts of time playing computer games and is drawn away by events into a world that’s even more exciting.
I was afraid that my grandson might find it preachy or pompous and told him not to worry if he didn’t get on with it. He took it on holiday with him, along with half-a-dozen other books and this is the one that he mentioned whilst on holiday and again when home. He really enjoyed it and so I give it a well-deserved 5* – you can’t beat a recommendation from the target audience! – MacTrish, Amazon

Gateway to Magic by Annabelle Franklin was a cute, quick read with some valuable lessons within. I shared this book with my little ones, who absolutely loved it. From their point of view it was ‘awesome’. The author did a wonderful job of painting the scenes, making things very easy to visualise, most especially the Forest of Pointy Fingers! I love it when authors bring a story to life by word-painting, and Franklin doesn’t disappoint! Franklin’s Gateway to Magic is perfectly tailored to its target audience, as my brood can well attest. They all loved it, and we’ll be reading it again for sure! – J. Aislynn d’Merrickson, Readers’ Favorite

Get your free copy HERE!