The Death-Defying Pepper Roux Geraldine McCaughrean Published by Oxford ISBN 978019 2756022
Young Pepper Roux wakes up on his birthday feeling a bit strange. For the past 14 years, he has been told almost on a daily basis that he would die on his 14th birthday. How and why, he does not know, he just knows that today's the day.
Geraldine McCaughrean's The Death-Defying Pepper Roux is a witty, fast-moving story of an engaging teenager who suddenly becomes determined to escape his destiny.
On the day he was born, Pepper's wise Aunt Mireille leaned over the cot and told her sister, Madame Roux, that her beautiful baby boy would die when he reached 14. She even bought Pepper a small grave plot in the local churchyard for his first birthday.
The Roux family never questioned Aunt Mireille's prediction - what she says always comes true - and the fact that Pepper is now a healthy and bright teenager has made no difference to their expectations.
But on the morning of his 14th birthday, Pepper realises that he rather likes life and decides to take fate into his own hands.