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The Clock Tower Ghost
Amanda Phillips' bravery and terrible temper make her more than a match for the hundred-year-old ghost in the clock tower
89 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1981
53 people want to read
About the author
Gene Kemp
52 books11 followersGene Kemp was an English author known for children's books. Her first, The Pride of Tamworth Pig, appeared in 1972. She won the British Carnegie Medal for her school novel The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler (1977).
Gene Kemp was born in Wigginton, Staffordshire in 1926. She grew up near Tamworth, Staffordshire, and went to Exeter University. She became a teacher and taught at St Sidwell's School in Exeter in the 1970s.
From 1972 she wrote stories for young readers about a pig named Tamworth, named after the town she grew up in. Kemp found inspiration for many of the characters in her books amongst the friends of her children, Chantal and Richard.
Her best known book is The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler, published by Faber's Children's Books in 1977. Set in the fictional Cricklepit School, it charts the pleasures and pains of friendship and growing up. There are several Cricklepit books, including Snaggletooth's Mystery, an alternative history of the school, and Gowie Corby Plays Chicken, set one year after The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler and referencing Tyke in several chapters.
Kemp wrote ghost stories and fantasy as well as realistic fiction, like Seriously Weird, which is told from the perspective of the sister of a young man with Asperger syndrome. She also dramatised some of her work, the most successful and well-known of these being Charlie Lewis Plays for Time, another Cricklepit story.
Gene Kemp was awarded an Honorary MA from Exeter University in 1984. She lived in Exeter and had three children – a daughter, Judith, from her first marriage to Norman Pattison, which ended in divorce, and another daughter, Chantal, and a son, Richard, from her second marriage, to Allan Kemp, who died in 1990. She had three grandchildren and two great-grandsons. Kemp died at the age of 88 on 4 January 2015.
Kemp won two awards for The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler (1997): the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, for the year's best children's book by a British subject, and one from the Children's Rights Workshop.
She made the Smarties Prize shortlist four times, in (1981) for The Clock Tower Ghost, (1985) for Charlie Lewis Plays for Time, (1986) for Juniper and (1990) for Just Ferret.
Gene Kemp was born in Wigginton, Staffordshire in 1926. She grew up near Tamworth, Staffordshire, and went to Exeter University. She became a teacher and taught at St Sidwell's School in Exeter in the 1970s.
From 1972 she wrote stories for young readers about a pig named Tamworth, named after the town she grew up in. Kemp found inspiration for many of the characters in her books amongst the friends of her children, Chantal and Richard.
Her best known book is The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler, published by Faber's Children's Books in 1977. Set in the fictional Cricklepit School, it charts the pleasures and pains of friendship and growing up. There are several Cricklepit books, including Snaggletooth's Mystery, an alternative history of the school, and Gowie Corby Plays Chicken, set one year after The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler and referencing Tyke in several chapters.
Kemp wrote ghost stories and fantasy as well as realistic fiction, like Seriously Weird, which is told from the perspective of the sister of a young man with Asperger syndrome. She also dramatised some of her work, the most successful and well-known of these being Charlie Lewis Plays for Time, another Cricklepit story.
Gene Kemp was awarded an Honorary MA from Exeter University in 1984. She lived in Exeter and had three children – a daughter, Judith, from her first marriage to Norman Pattison, which ended in divorce, and another daughter, Chantal, and a son, Richard, from her second marriage, to Allan Kemp, who died in 1990. She had three grandchildren and two great-grandsons. Kemp died at the age of 88 on 4 January 2015.
Kemp won two awards for The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler (1997): the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, for the year's best children's book by a British subject, and one from the Children's Rights Workshop.
She made the Smarties Prize shortlist four times, in (1981) for The Clock Tower Ghost, (1985) for Charlie Lewis Plays for Time, (1986) for Juniper and (1990) for Just Ferret.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 18, 2017
Loved this book as a kid, still have it!
July 17, 2018
I got this book from a second-hand book shop in Inverness in Scotland.
Read on the train between Belgium and the Netherlands.
It was a fun wee read.
Read on the train between Belgium and the Netherlands.
It was a fun wee read.
September 20, 2020
very interesting and enjoyable to read, I absoloutely loved it!
December 14, 2024
The Clock Tower Ghost by Gene Kemp is a wonderfully imaginative children's ghost story (ages 8-10) first published in 1981
The Addlesbury Clock Tower is where the Phillips family Bill, Marilyn and their children, Chris, Amanda and Baby Fred now live. It is haunted by a hundred-and fifty-year old ghost named Old King Cole, a mean old man who originally designed and had built the tower. He plummeted off its parapet a long time ago under mysterious circumstances. Amanda (Mandy) Phillips, the middle child is a mean, spiteful, greedy girl who is a bully much feared by her family and hated by her school mates. She is determined to claim the tower for her own territory. As Mandy and King Cole lock horns in an ever more devious battle for supremacy, neither realize how much they resemble each other physically, as well as their personalities. Amanda's fearless bravery and fiery temper make her a formidable match for the ghost.
The Addlesbury Clock Tower is where the Phillips family Bill, Marilyn and their children, Chris, Amanda and Baby Fred now live. It is haunted by a hundred-and fifty-year old ghost named Old King Cole, a mean old man who originally designed and had built the tower. He plummeted off its parapet a long time ago under mysterious circumstances. Amanda (Mandy) Phillips, the middle child is a mean, spiteful, greedy girl who is a bully much feared by her family and hated by her school mates. She is determined to claim the tower for her own territory. As Mandy and King Cole lock horns in an ever more devious battle for supremacy, neither realize how much they resemble each other physically, as well as their personalities. Amanda's fearless bravery and fiery temper make her a formidable match for the ghost.
November 30, 2016
When Amanda Phillips and her family move into Addlesbury Tower they have no idea that it is haunted by Rich King Cole. When Mandy and King Cole meet they fail to realise how much they have in common. Instead they battle for ultimate supremacy.
Gene Kemp's The Clock Tower Ghost is such a popular novel, it has been imprint continuously since 1981, when it was first published.
I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It is unusual to find a great book that's main characters are so unlike able.
Ruthless, cruel and narcissistic King Cole has met his match in rude, selfish, bully Amanda. Individually these characters are horrible, together they are unbelievably entertaining.
Gene Kemp did a wonderful job with this book. With both King Cole and Amanda so deplorable at the start of this book, it was great to watch as they found some humanity whilst battling each other.
With a nice collection of support characters and a sprinkling of illustrations, this book is a great read.
If you haven't read it, get yourself a copy now.
The Clock Tower Ghost is a wonderful book for kids and adults alike, I will definitely be reading it many times in the future.
Written by Geramie Kate Barker
https://gemsbooknook.wordpress.com
Gene Kemp's The Clock Tower Ghost is such a popular novel, it has been imprint continuously since 1981, when it was first published.
I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It is unusual to find a great book that's main characters are so unlike able.
Ruthless, cruel and narcissistic King Cole has met his match in rude, selfish, bully Amanda. Individually these characters are horrible, together they are unbelievably entertaining.
Gene Kemp did a wonderful job with this book. With both King Cole and Amanda so deplorable at the start of this book, it was great to watch as they found some humanity whilst battling each other.
With a nice collection of support characters and a sprinkling of illustrations, this book is a great read.
If you haven't read it, get yourself a copy now.
The Clock Tower Ghost is a wonderful book for kids and adults alike, I will definitely be reading it many times in the future.
Written by Geramie Kate Barker
https://gemsbooknook.wordpress.com
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews