Sophie and the Locust Curse by Stephen Davies Page B

he’ll give you twenty thousand francs a month,’ said Sophie to Gidaado.
    ‘You must be joking!’ cried Gidaado. ‘That’s wonderful!’
    ‘He says you must be joking,’ said Sophie to the General. ‘He wants at least fifty.’
    ‘Thirty-five,’ said the General.
    ‘The General would like to raise that to thirty-five thousand a month,’ said Sophie.
    ‘ Zorki ,’ said Gidaado.
    ‘He says forty,’ said Sophie to the General.
    The General stared at Gidaado and sighed. ‘Monsieur Gidaado drives a hard bargain,’ he said, ‘but I accept. Forty thousand a month for six months, plus two Alai Crêpe-Sombo T-shirts. Deal or no deal?’
    Sophie smiled at the General. ‘Deal,’ she said.
    *
    The shadows of day lengthened and faded and the sun turned crimson. Sophie and Gidaado were sitting on the gravel outside Sophie’s house, shelling peanuts and listening to ‘Greatest Hits of Ali Farka Touré’. Behind them Chobbal munched guiltily on Sophie’s dad’s sunflowers.
    ‘Forty thousand a month for six months,’ Gidaado was saying. ‘It’s enough for the whole village to live on. Wait until Uncle Ibrahiim hears about this.’
    ‘You don’t think he’ll still want to sell Chobbal?’ said Sophie.
    ‘Sell Chobbal? No way. He’ll be kissing Chobbal!’
    Sophie laughed. Considering what a depressing month it had been, things were turning out rather well. Gidaado and his family would not go hungry. His grandmother would get her medicine. And with Gidaado in General Crêpe-Sombo’s service, Sam Saman was sure to steer clear of them all for a very long time indeed.
    Sophie changed the cassette and the soulful intro of ‘Mucky Tail I miss you ’ soared over the thatched rooftops of Gorom-Gorom. A red-necked lizard scuttled up to them and bobbed up and down, looking for all the world as if it was dancing.
    ‘Your days as a cow-crier are over now,’ said Sophie. ‘You must be ecstatic.’
    ‘Not at all,’ said Gidaado. ‘Being a crier was great. I wish you would stop dissing it.’
    Sophie threw a handful of peanut shells over him, and he cackled.
    ‘Gidaado,’ said Sophie. ‘You remember that thing you said about Joy? How it’s like drops of milk splashing out of a calabash and wetting your face and arms?’
    ‘I remember,’ said Gidaado. ‘But you said you don’t know what that feels like.’
    Sophie grinned. ‘I’m beginning to,’ she said.

It is election time and Gidaado is working as the official praise singer for General Crêpe-Sombo. But Sophie is beginning to get suspicious of the General. Is he really the hero he seems?
     
    "Funny and very entertaining" - Writeaway
     
    "Terrific adventure, almost Kiplingesque in its humour and writing style" - Lovereading

A Boy and a Bear in a Boat
     

    A boy and a bear go to sea, equipped with a suitcase, a comic book and ukulele. They are only travelling a short distance and it really shouldn't take too long. But faced with turbulent stormy seas, a terrifying sea monster and the rank remains of The Very Last Sandwich, the odds soon become pitted against our unlikely heroes.
"One of my favourite books of the year. I was captivated by it." - John Boyne
"One of the most original children's books I've ever read" - Philip Reeve
"A book to savour" - Julia Eccleshare

Sophie and the Pancake Plot
    by Stephen Davies
     
    As a little bonus for you, here are the first two chapters of Sophie and the Pancake Plot .
     
    If you enjoy it and would like to read the rest of the story, you can buy the ebook on Amazon.
     



Chapter 1
    Hundreds of horns gleamed in the African sun. Hundreds of tails flicked to and fro. Hundreds of hooves trudged through narrow streets. This was rush hour and Sophie Brown was being jostled along in a crowd of cows which were heading out of Gorom-Gorom to graze. The animals moved in one great mass, eyes fixed on the ground - like Londoners on their way to work, thought Sophie. Even after three years living in Africa, she still