Page 112 - NEW TITLES JANUARY - MARCH 2024

ADVANCE INFORMATION

Children of the

Mine

Life Down the Mine in 1839

Jacqueline Baxter Bellew

KEY SELLING POINTS
Historical fiction aimed at children aged 9-11 years and documents the lives of children working in mines.
Ideal for children in Key Stage 2 as part of the local history curriculum.
Story takes place in a fictional mine but takes inspiration from mines in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear,
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, where, in Victorian times, children were employed in mines from the
age of 5.

It was Tim’s 9th birthday, and he’d finally be joining his brother, sister, and dad down the pit. Working down the
deepest, most dangerous coal mine in the Northeast of England was his worst nightmare. Especially
remembering the horrible stories his sister told him. But thirteen-hours of sitting in the dark don't seem so bad
once he makes friends with orphans, Jonnie, and his sister Evie.

But Jonnie isn’t who they think he is and Tim’s sister, Daisy, when harnessed to a coal truck and forced to pull
30 kilos of coal, rebels, setting in motion a disaster that changes their lives forever. The children, forced to flee
the mine, set off on the road to London. But unbeknown to them, Annie and Geordie Giles, the worst bullies in
the mine, are hard on their heels, desperate to avenge the death of their mother, Martha.

From the darkness of the Skry pit to the treacherous road to London town, Children of the Mine follows the
story of a group of children at the height of the industrial revolution, whose lives were dictated by poverty, and
the greed of the mine owners. As they make their way through Victorian England, they find that some things are
worse than the pit…

Jacqueline Baxter Bellew is a university professor and qualified teacher. She was born on Tyneside and her
passion for mining stems from ancestors who worked the mines at Seaham Colliery, County Durham. She has
been giving school workshops and talks on mining for the last ten years, as part of key stage 2 local history
projects. She has three grown up boys and lives with her partner Robert, two chickens, and four cats in Bedford.

Publication Date: Was Feb now March 2024. £9.99 ISBN: 9781805142645
Thema subject category: YFT – Children’s / Teenage fiction: Historical fiction
paperback 198 x 129 mm 184 pp Portrait Author location: Bedford

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