Swimming to the Moon

'Just  call me Bee. Please, please call me that. If you call me Beatrix  Daffodil Tulip Chrysanthemum Rose Edwards I shan't answer you. I am not  being rude or unfriendly, or insolent as Mrs Dixon my teacher calls me. I  just don't like my name. Well, would you?' 

Bee stumbles through life in her stripy socks with her head in the clouds,  doing her very best to keep out of the way of her bickering parents and  avoid bendy tap dancing Crystal Kelly - who makes her life a  misery. But when Crystal double-dares her to volunteer for a sponsored  swim in honour of her great grandmother Beatrix's memory, Bee can't  back down. Even though she is terrified of water and cannot swim! 

Then new boy Moon-Star gallops to Bee's rescue on his horse and takes  her to meet Old Alice, a Traveller who lives in a beautiful painted  wagon. As Bee enters this new world, her life is changed for ever. 

Finally  she has an ally. Down by the promise tree the new friends make a pact - Moon Star  will teach Bee to swim if Bee will teach him to read. They spit on their  hands and shake on their vow and a beautiful friendship begins.

'Fans of Jacqueline Wilson and Elen Caldecott will like this real-world drama ... Warm and dreamy with just the right amount of quirk for young readers to identify with if they feel like outsiders.' Booktrust