High on the wall above the counter the old railway clock ticked away the minutes. Again Sally-Anne peered out nervously through the front window of the shop. With every passing moment the sky was darkening and deep shadows were steadily creeping across the paved square.
Sally-Anne has taken on a holiday job to help pay for extra basketball coaching. She likes working for her mum’s friend, Meg,but when she’s left to close up by herself one evening, a strange chain of events begins.
First, Sally-Anne receives a strange delivery for the shop: three large cartons that Meg, the store owner, hasn’t ordered. When Meg allows Sally-Anne to open one of the boxes the next day, they find a store mannequin that is disarmingly life-like.
In the days that follow, strange things start happening at the shop in Theatre Place. Someone with access to the shop saves it from being flooded, and new stock is ordered without Meg’s permission. Sally-Anne is blamed for the mysterious happenings – but she knows nothing about them. But who else could it be and how can she convince Meg it isn’t her?
The Children of Theatre Place is a yellow level reader in the new Breakers series from Macmillan Education. Although the trigger or motive for the strange happenings is a little unclear, children will enjoy the mystery of the ‘children’ who rescue the shop.
The Children of Theatre Place is targeted at children with a reading age of around 10 years and is suitable for private or classroom reading.
The Children of Theatre Place, by Adrian Peniston-Bird
Macmillan Education, 2003