The Goldfish Boy

A story about finding friendship when you’re lonely and hope when all you feel is fear.

Twelve-year-old Matthew is trapped in his bedroom by crippling OCD, spending most of his time staring out of his window as the inhabitants of Chestnut Close go about their business.

That is, until the day he is the last person to see his next door neighbour’s toddler, Teddy, before he goes missing.

Now Matthew must turn detective and unravel the mystery of Teddy’s disappearance – with a little help from a surprising and brilliant cast of supporting characters.

Full of heart and a genuine and honest confrontation of some of the ways in which life can be hard to handle, this is a story about the courage it takes to face your fears and learn to live with them. Page-turning and heart-breaking, but ultimately life-affirming, this story is perfect for fans of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and Wonder.

It is a book that will make you think about everything there is to discover, just waiting beyond your front door.

Published by Scholastic

About the author:

Lisa Thompson is a children’s novelist born in Essex, UK.  Her debut novel, The Goldfish Boy, was published in 2017 and went on to become a bestseller.  The Goldfish Boy has been nominated for numerous awards including the Carnegie Medal, The Branford Boase Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and was given a starred review by Kirkus Reviews. A stage production of The Goldfish Boy was commissioned for a short run by the Oldham Theatre Workshop.

Lisa has gone on to write more best-selling novels, including The Light Jar, The Day I Was Erased and The Boy Who Fooled The World.  Her novella, Owen and the Soldier, was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Awards.

Lisa is leading creative writing workshops in primary schools across Shropshire for the Shrewsbury Bookfest Schools’ Week 2021 project.