School student Ellie is kind-hearted and intelligent but impulsive. She’s anxious about the future of the planet, so when power-hungry oil tycoon, Muelo, makes a bid to become mayor of her city, she feels compelled to stop him. Facing off against the charismatic, dynamic and relentlessly ruthless Muelo, Ellie finds herself in a confrontation that tests the limits of her courage. Sapiens, an enchantress of the mind, takes Ellie and her friends on humankind’s journey to our present climate catastrophe. Meanwhile, there’s a murder to be solved. A thrilling novel of hope and activism, inspiring the young and the not-so-young to take action to protect our future.
Alan’s twin careers have been in the Co-operative Movement, promoting the formation of co-operative enterprises, and teaching in a large, multi-ethnic further education college, enhancing the potential of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Alan was inspired to write Ellie and Sapiens from his first-hand experience of the anxiety about climate change shared by many young people. Alan is a leading member of the Hay-on-Wye Writers’ Circle. He has published a multi-media retelling of Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part One and a collection of short stories. When not writing, his great love is music, enthusing about the music of Sibelius and playing saxophone in a ceilidh band.