STEP BY WICKED STEP

By Anne Fine

Synopsis

Five children on school trip to creepy mansion find a manuscript hidden in a sealed room revealing a story of great wickedness.

Sample Player

Narrator	Joanna Bowman
Length	4hrs 0min
Catalogue No.	615903
Publisher	Hamish Hamilton

Other audiobooks by Anne Fine

ALL BONES AND LIES

Colleagues and family regard Colin as a model citizen who visits his mother to care for her. They don't know about his secret life, but due to a problem insurance policy his two lives are set to collide and there is nothing Colin can do to stop them.

THE ANGEL OF NITSHILL ROAD

Three children at Nitshill Road School are surprised when Celeste appears in their playground and from then on life there is never the same.

ANNELI THE ART HATER

Anneli hates drawing, painting and anything artistic. But when she finds a picture hidden behind a secret door in her house she is drawn into an extraordinary story.

BAD DREAMS

Mel doesn't want to look after the new girl, Imogen, who has a special talent that Mel decides is more of a curse.

BILL'S NEW FROCK

Bill is forced to go to school in a pink dress when he wakes up one day to find he is a girl.

BLOOD FAMILY

Edward is four years old when he is locked away with his mother by her abusive, alcoholic partner, Harris. Rescue comes, but lasting damage has been done. Adopted by a kindly foster family Edward struggles to adapt to normal life. Even as a teenager it's still clear to his new family and schoolmates there's something odd about him.

THE BOOK OF THE BANSHEE

Inspired by a visiting writer and the diary of a young soldier from the trenches, Will decides to become a war correspondent and records his account of the battles with his sister.

CARE OF HENRY

Hugo has to choose who to stay with while his mother's having a baby. But who will care for him and his dog, Henry.

CHARM SCHOOL

If her mother is to keep her new job, Bonnie has no choice; she must take a one day course at Charm School.

THE CHICKEN GAVE IT TO ME

This is the story of a chicken who flies "frillions" of miles to try to save humans.

COUNTRY PANCAKE

Lance comes up with the most original fund-raising idea ever - all made possible because of his friendship with Flossie, the cow.

CRUMMY MUMMY AND ME

It is not easy for sensible Minna to have an eccentric mother with a punk boy-friend. A highly entertaining story.

THE DEVIL WALKS

Daniel’s mother has always kept him hidden from the rest of the world, making him believe that he is an invalid. After a forceful knock at the door, everything changes and Daniel starts to realise how many secrets his mother has kept from him.

THE DIARY OF A KILLER CAT

Can Ellie manage to get her beloved cat to change his wild ways?

FLOUR BABIES

When the annual School Science Fair comes round, Mrs Cartright's pupils are given Flour babies to care for, to their initial dismay.

GOGGLE-EYES

When Kelly Johnston is miserable because her mother is thinking of getting married again, forceful Kitty Killin comes to the rescue. Kitty's not noted for sensitivity or for tact, but she's been through it all herself with the man in her own mother's life : the silver-haired, chocolate-bearing Gerald Faulkner (otherwise known as Old Goggle-eyes).

THE GRANNY PROJECT

Granny is a bit dotty, sometimes grumpy and lives in the family home. But when their mother and father decide to put her into a home, the children devise a plan to help Gran.

HOW TO WRITE REALLY BADLY

Joe is bottom of the class so if he has to do a project called 'How to write really neatly' this is bound to be a disaster. But what if he does one called 'How to write really badly'?

JENNIFER'S DIARY

Iolanthe doesn't have a diary, but she does have zillions of ideas for stories and what she wants is - Jennifer's diary.

LOUDMOUTH LOUIS

Usually Louis is a chatterbox, but can he stop talking for just one day to raise funds for his school?

MADAME DOUBTFIRE

Lydia, Christopher and Natalie are used to domestic turmoil. Their parents' divorce has not made family life any easier in either home. The children bounce to and fro between their volatile mother, Miranda, and Daniel, their out-of-work actor father. Then Miranda advertises for a cleaning lady who will supervise the children after school - and Daniel gets the job, disguised as Madame Doubtfire!

THE MORE THE MERRIER

Whilst Christmas is the time for family, more is certainly not merrier in Ralph's home. With the nutty relations visiting, Mum is on the verge of a breakdown and Ralph has been banished to his bedroom!

NAG CLUB

Boggle hats are the latest thing. Everybody at school wants one - but only Lola actually has one. So she decides to form a club to show the other children how best to nag their parents into buying them one. However, the children get mixed results.

NOTSO HOTSO

When Anthony the dog can't stop scratching no one is very interested. But then the vet tells him that he has a skin problem and that he must have all his fur shaved off apart from his head and tail! He knows that everyone will laugh - and that's notso hotso!

PRESS PLAY

When Mum isn't there to get Nicky, Tasha and Little Joe off to school one morning they find a strange note on top of the tape player. It says 'Press Play'. The children have to follow Mum's simple instructions with hilarious results.

RAKING THE ASHES

Tilly has always been brilliant at pushing people out of her life whenever she wants, but things are different with Geoffrey. She wants to get away, but how can she ensure it is a permanent escape?

THE ROAD OF BONES

Even though the Czar has gone, people still disappear. Although Yuri knows this, he never dreams that one day he too will be classed 'an enemy of the state', for a few careless words.

ROLL OVER ROLY

Rupert can't be stern with his puppy so how will Roly ever learn how to behave?

ROUND BEHIND THE ICE HOUSE

As younger children, twins Tom and Cass were very close but as they have grown older they have grown apart. Tom wishes they were still close but must gradually accept that he doesn't own Cass and never can!

SAME OLD STORY EVERY YEAR

Maya longs to be in Mr Kelly's play and can already see herself on stage but then a problem arises.

THE STONE MENAGERIE

Ally really doesn't want to go with his mum on her weekly visit to his fragile aunt Chloe at the big Victorian hospital - until he discovers a hidden garden in the grounds. Suddenly Ally begins to discover a new way of looking at the world - and to understand his aunt and some of her sensitivity.

A SUDDEN GLOW OF GOLD

Sent to tidy his room, Toby finds a brass lamp. When he cleans it out pops Hasan, a genie, who whisks Toby off on his magic carpet.

A SUDDEN PUFF OF GLITTERING SMOKE

Jeanie finds a ring on the way to school. In the middle of class she rubs it and a genie appears on her desk, but a very grumpy genie!

A SUDDEN SWIRL OF ICY WIND

William accidentally releases a genie, Mustapha, from a bottle in the junk room.

TELLING LIDDY

The Palmer sisters have never had any secrets between them but should Liddy be told the rumour about her new boyfriend?

THE TULIP TOUCH

Only Natalie wants to be friends with Tulip, but even she realises that Tulip's games are going too far.

UNDER A SILVER MOON

In a hot, faraway land, two baby boys are born under the same silver moon: Haroun, son of the sultan and Akil, the son of the gardener. As children they play together until one day Haroun has to learn princely ways. But when he suffers pains that no doctor can cure, can Akil help him find a magic key to good health?

UP ON CLOUD NINE

After falling from a top floor window Stolly lies unconscious in a hospital bed. Watching over him, Ian tries to figure out what happened to his best friend and remembers all the scrapes Stolly has got into when he is up on cloud nine.