Book giveaway: Invisible Girl by Kate Maryon

[RachelMumsnet]

Apply for one of 50 advance copies of Invisible Girl by Kate Maryon, due out in the shops on 6th June.

Invisible Girl tells the story of twelve year old Gabriella, who somehow slips through the cracks when she's caught between arguing parents and moving house. The city streets are no place for young girls but they're all she's got. For fans of Cathy Cassidy and Jacqueline Wilson, a stunning new novel from the author of SHINE, GLITTER, SEA OF STARS and A MILLION ANGELS.

Kate Maryon was inspired to write Invisible Girl after reading an article about children running away from home in the UK by Andy McCullough, who works for children's charity Railway Children. As part of the campaign with Mumsnet, Railway Children and Aviva are working with Kate Maryon to raise awareness of this issue and have secured 50 advance copies of the book to giveaway to Mumsnetters. Apply for one of 50 free advance copies of Invisible Girl, and PLEASE post your feedback on this thread. For every post on the thread Aviva will donate £2 to Railway Children. You are allowed to post up to three messages. Thanks

Have entered for dd

Two years ago we went to see The Railway Children staged at Waterloo and there was an exhibition about the charity. Dd spent ages reading some of the stories. She was only 9 then but it really made her think about the children out there with no one.

If you are one of the lucky 50, we do ask that you post feedback on the discussion thread ? both on the book, and if this enabled you to start a conversation with your child about the topic of running away from home. However, if you don't get a book, we'd still love to hear what you think about using children's books (and other resources) as ways to bring up tricky topics like running away from home with your children, so do please add your thoughts to the thread.

Entered. I think it would be great for dd to realise how easily these things can happen.

It saddens me that it is something that needs to be considered. DD is 5 and I could never imagine a stage where she will not want to come home. :(

I fully support this campaign.

RCPANEL jackies4 - would be a good book to read with my teenage daughter and son, to focus a family discusson on

sounds a good read! will be reading this myself

My friend's son is still missing. Couldn't possibly imagine how bad it is for them. My daughter is 13, my son is 11. He was 14 when he ran away from home

What a great campaign. I think books/stories or plays/films are a fantastic way of opening up a dialogue with children and raising awareness of important issues like this and introducing difficult topics for discussion.

Have entered, my DD is 10 and i think this book will be a great way to get her to understand how things can happen.

Have entered I think both my step-daughter and the little girl I nanny for would benefit from reading this.

What a great campaign. My DS is 10 and is struggling emotionally so would love to be able to talk to him about an issue like this.

Have entered for my DS 11 as sounds like a very interesting book .

I have entered, I 'ran away' from home at 7 years old. A lot of things were going on.
It is a thing I am willing to talk about with my dc. Atm though the oldest still want's to live with me and dh forever :o

Have entered for my 12 year old daughter looks like great book

Sounds like an interesting and thought provoking read. I was shocked to hear just
How many children run away from home each year. :(

Recieved my book this morning. Will post feedback when dd and i have read it

I received my book this morning, thanks for picking me.

DS1 and I will start reading this as soon as we finish our current one which won't be too long.

I just got mine too. The title had made dd immediately curious so that's a good start. We're going to read it together in the next couple of weeks.

Dd has just read it in one sitting. She's just come downstairs a bit stunned. Think she needs to gather her thoughts before posting a proper review. She says its made her think what some children go through and she wants to donate something.

Just got my copy, dsd has just disappeared into her room with it so will post a review when she's done

I've just received my copy. I'm looking forward to reading this with dd, as we never make the effort to read together anymore. ..she devours books on her own so this is a chance to discuss an important issue and spend some time together. Thank you...will post my review soon.

I received my copy yesterday, we are reading this together at bedtime so it could be a few days before we are ready to review. Will review as soon as we are finished. Thank you :)

Just received today - DD keen to get started, will add feedback when she's got into it :)

Just finished this great book...thanks Mumsnet! What an eye opener. While we are sleeping in our warm beds, many thousands of children like Gabriella, in the UK are living on the streets, hand to mouth. At times I wanted to scream at Gabriella's self absorbed parents, but mostly I was completely engrossed in the story and hoping for a happy ending. A very absorbing and directly honest read. Girls (and boys) aged 9 upwards will love it. Thoroughly recommend it!

Using books and stories as a starting point for discussion is a great way to raise an issue with children, although not quite as effective as being able to talk to someone who has been there and had the T-shirt stolen. Older children are very much aware that books are fiction and may argue that life isn't really like that. So we also used newspaper reports on, for example, what happens to missing children. The "world's strictest parents" TV show was good for showing teens how well off they were and how bad teens who are spoilt by their parents can become.