.Quarry Bank Tales
Do not miss the opportunity to download all 5 novels in this fascinating series of Historical Fiction!
It includes many of the characters who were linked to the famous Cheshire Cotton Mill during the period from Regency through Georgian to the earlier times of Queen Victoria.
Child apprentices, workers, owners, and law breakers – they are all here! All 5 books for under £4!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CKS5SYTW?binding=kindle_edition&ref=
 
Quarry Bank Tales (5 book series) Kindle Edition

Quarry Bank Tales
Do not miss the opportunity to download all 5 novels in this fascinating series of Historical Fiction!
It includes many of the characters who were linked to the famous Cheshire Cotton Mill during the period from Regency through Georgian to the earlier times of Queen Victoria.
Child apprentices, workers, owners, and law breakers – they are all here! All 5 books for under £4!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CKS5SYTW?binding=kindle_edition&ref=
 
Quarry Bank Tales (5 book series) Kindle Edition

​Would you like an adventure on another planet? This is just one of the questions Lara and her sister, Eva, must answer one sunny day in their garden. They wonder how will they return to Earth in time for lunch? And how will they get there when the aliens’ spaceship is so small? When it’s only big enough for ants!


But their help is needed on the planet Zeegrazzalo-Jeewoppza so off they go – into the unknown. Their feelings of helplessness only start to fade after a flight across the planet's Outerlands, in Kweezy Capolza's hummingcraft. Maybe, just maybe, the sisters can find some solutions to the aliens' problems. However, they think they might need their mother's help and she is back on Earth!

Now that  the price of  Ants in Space has been reduced to half its original (was £3.50 now £1.77) here are some Review Quotes to let you know what others thought:

KELLY R - "My children loved this book, it had a great storyline... My youngest two have read it many times... even my 15 year old boy..."
EMMYJO - "This book was amazing... I read it a couple of times with my nephew and niece..."
PATRICIA WALKER - "This is a brilliant story that just begs to be read out loud in teeny tiny voices! ... beautifully illustrated..."
ANN ROGERS - as a grandmother - "I did actually enjoy the story and loved the moral behind it..."
ALEX JAMES - sci-fi author - "The light and clear tone means it can also be happily enjoyed by adults reading to children."
J C WING - writer - "Funny and mesmerizing for kids and adults alike... I was completely enthralled... with the story itself but
with the humor also..."
N A - "Ants In Space... is an adorable and creatively illustrated book for young children written as only  G J Griffiths can." 

Another Extract from So What! Stories: Chloe's Story 
​
“Sir, what are those animals called with 8 testicles?”
Chris could not help blinking, open-mouthed, at the two girls standing at his desk. His first thought was “This is a wind-up!”
 
 But then he remembered that this was Year 8 and two of the cleverest but most naive pupils were Chloe and Samantha. No, this had to be a genuine question. They were two of the keenest pupils in this class and were always asking or answering questions in their own enthusiastic way.
 
With exercise books in hand and pens at the ready, they looked up at him in wide-eyed innocence. And he did not know the answer. Chris mentally rejected hydra, sea horses and anemones then replied, “Is this for your poster? " They nodded vigorously. "I’m not sure what you mean, girls. Can you tell me anything else about these animals? Do they have fur or feathers? Do they lay eggs in water or on land? Don’t forget our new topic is called Classification. So you should be able to narrow it down a bit more. Don’t you agree?”
“Well”, Chloe said wistfully, “I’m not sure. It is quite unusual. It lives in the water. In the sea, I think”.
“And it can grip things with its testicles. It can squeeze you to death with them! Or squirt ink at you to escape!" said Sam, triumphantly.
Now Chris’ mind went into a spin.
"OK, " he thought, "My subject isn’t Biology but I’ve always been interested in the natural world and I’m sure I would have read about a sea creature that can grip things with its testicles. "
 
Then, a pound’s worth of pennies dropped. “Oh! You mean an octopus, with 8 arms or tentacles, not testicles!” Chris tried not to collapse with tears of suppressed laughter. “It’s an octopus that has eight tentacles, girls. They have suckers on them. And, yes, it does live in the sea. You’ll find more details on it in the blue text book over there”.
He waved his left hand vaguely in the direction of the bookcase, and drew their attention towards the correct spelling, which he wrote on the blackboard for them with his right hand. Then he fished for a paper tissue from the box on his desk. They were usually for small emergencies with the children. Runny noses, cut knees and quite often for tears of sadness. But now they were to stuff in his mouth to suppress his laughter and wipe his eyes. But he could not do that easily in front of the class, so he coughed loudly, blew his nose even louder and wiped his eyes, trying hard to recover his composure.
 
As they went over to the bookcase Chris saw the two innocents put their heads close together and Chloe muttered, “Well, what are testicles for then?”
Chris wanted to bottle the moment and save it for their parents on Open Night.
"But that wouldn’t work. Chloe’s Mum and Dad have just split up. She had already needed some of those tissues. Why was it that kids always seemed to feel it was their fault when their parents decided to live apart? "
 
He came back down to earth with a heartfelt bump. The two girls were the closest of friends, luckily for Chloe since she missed her father a lot. He had moved out of the family home and into their Chinese fish and chip shop for the time being. Chloe was quite small for her age, pretty, with a shock of straight, jet-black hair. She had warm, deep brown eyes that twinkled with harmless mischief. All of the teaching staff thought that Chloe was “just so cute”. Samantha was a typical English rose; long blonde hair, blue eyes, strawberries and cream complexion. Sam was about six inches taller than her very best friend was. The loyalty between the two girls was fierce and often caused problems with their peers.       
 
“Here’s a picture of an octopus”, said Chloe, triumphantly holding the blue book in the air. When she arrived back at her desk there was a crumpled note on top of her exercise book. As Chloe read it Samantha demanded, “What does it say? Who’s it from? Let me read it! Please, Chloe!”
Chloe started to weep silently. Sam became quiet and put her arm round her best friend’s shoulder.
“Are you alright? What does it say?” she whispered. A couple of boys glanced across at the girls in a very shifty way. Luke watched for a reaction but Martin looked innocently to the ceiling while silently whistling to himself.
Sam took the note from Chloe and waved it in Luke’s face, aggressively demanding, “Did you write this? I s’pose you think it’s funny. You’re pathetic, Pickman! I’m going to tell Sir!”
 
Luke Pickman tried to look innocent but he could not stop himself from giggling and glanced, mockingly at Chloe. Meanwhile, the rest of the, previously busy, class had all stopped their work and their discussions about fur, scales, number of legs and so on, to focus on the dispute.
“Mr. Cooke”, said Samantha, as she glanced first at Chloe and then at Luke. But by now Chris had become aware of the events around Chloe’s desk and was already thinking, "What on earth is going on now? Just when the whole class has started to focus properly on their project work a row has to start. " He looked irritated and demanded, “What is going on over there? Bring me that note, immediately!”
They could see from his expression that Mr. Cooke was not going to change his mind. Chloe and Luke looked horrified as Samantha slowly advanced towards Chris. Her head was down and her arm outstretched, clutching the note. Chris read it after snapping at the children, “Get on with your work, everyone!”

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​Chapter 4: Martin's Story from So What! Stories
 
At the end of their next science lesson Martin was waiting around Chris' desk and obviously wanted to speak in private.
    
"Did you want to see me about something, Martin?" Chris continued tidying up the papers and books on his desk, but noticed that Martin was careful to be certain that all the other children had left the classroom completely before he spoke.
Martin sniffed and wiped his nose on the back of his sleeve. "Sirrr!" He drawled, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "How old do you have to be to leave home?"
This was not the sort of question he was expecting at all. Martin tended to ask which was the last day for handing in homework, usually on the day that it was due. Chris cleared his throat, looked thoughtfully at his paperwork and at Martin and asked, "How old are you now, Martin? 12? 13?"
"Do I have to hand my book in today?" He was looking, apprehensively, at the pile of exercise books that had been collected in at the end of the lesson and seemed to ignoring Chris's reply. Before Chris could say anything Martin said, "Germs are too small to see aren't they, Sir? Do you think there are many on those books?" Now he was rubbing the palms of his hands together and down the sides of his hips over and over. It gave Chris a chance to observe the boy before him. He had only been teaching Martin for a few weeks but had noticed that he was usually as untidy as his written work; tousled hair, tie at half-mast, at least one shirt tail visible on the outside of his trousers. So, Chris was a little puzzled about Martin's concern about germs. Now he also noticed Martin's very grubby hands and dirty finger nails. His face was grimy and there were lots of oily blackheads across his nose and cheeks. Martin's hair did not look as if it had been washed for weeks. Some of this grubbiness might be explained by his being a 'typical teenager' just entering adolescence, Chris thought. But what about his first question? "How old do you have to be to leave home?"
 
 Pointing to one of the lab stools he said, "Sit down, Martin. Before you ask me any more questions answer two questions for me. How old are you and why are you worried about germs?"
Chris noticed that Martin had casually wiped the stool before he sat on it. And he also noticed that Martin used the same sleeve for the stool that he had used minutes before for his nose.
 
"If I hand my book in it'll get all the germs on it from the other books and I'll have to touch them won't I? Thirteen."
To Chris's amazement he realized that Martin was now crying. Not blubbing and as dramatically as in a tragedy. But tears were falling down his cheeks creating irregular less-dirty paths on his face as he spoke. It was as if Martin had not noticed. In fact Chris became sure that Martin was not aware at all that he was upset. And this upset Chris. What on earth was going on?