They Do Things Differently There

by Jan Mark

Living in Compton Rosehay (also known as Stalemate), things are never as they seem. On the surface all appears calm, birds twitter beneath the mock-tutor gables, and the sun beats down on neatly laid terracotta tiles. But Compton Rosehay is not is not what it seems and nor are its inhabitants...

Genres: Childrens

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Janet Marjorie Mark (1943-2006) was a British children's author and two time winner of the Carnegie Medal. She also taught art and English in Gravesend, Kent, was part of the faculty of Education at Oxford Polytechnic in the early 1980s and was a tutor and mentor to other writers before her death from meningitis-related septicaemia.

Meet the author:

What is your favourite animal?
The noble rat

What is your favourite boy’s name?
George

What is your favourite girl’s name?
Marjorie

What is your favourite food?
Pickled herring

What is your favourite music?
Klezmer

What is your favourite hobby?
Listening to music

Reviews

[Sula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two girls living in Compton Rosehay, and as a way of passing time invent stories about the place and the hidden sides to the residents. I started off enjoying this a lot, with the humorous style of writing, but as it moved into the imaginary descriptions, I lost interest. It feels a bit random and after the first few it doesn't feel like it develops any further or creates more interest. If I hadn't enjoyed the start so much I probably would have given it 2 stars.

[Farah Mendlesohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark has suburban weirdness down pat.

Charlotte lives in a New Town and when she meets Elaine they begin to spin a story about the place swallowed up by the New Town.

Not Exactly Fantasy But....

[Caroline Brooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bit of a one note joke spun into a book. The initial characters were well drawn, but the book never really develops or amuses.

[scarlettraces · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can never decide whether I prefer crazy funny Jan Mark or serious dystopic Jan Mark [I really should set a shrine to her & to Kage Baker - what losses to the world]. This is the former - it's a comedy in the sense both that it's wildly funny and that life lessons are learned in relatively painless ways. I just wish I'd been as inventive at these characters' age.

[Note: what is up with that Goodreads blurb? It's fairly misleading. The book has a plot, for one thing.]

[Amy_anyone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fantastic book by Jan Mark. She has a way of bringing her stories to a point where I have no idea what is going to happen next, but I look forward to finding out. I appreciate how much intelligence and art she packs into her young adult novels. If you don't get the literary references, you'll enjoy the book; if you do, you'll appreciate it that much more.