David Wiseman (Adam's Common, etc.)

[Capn]

Another instant all-time favourite I have read in the past month or so is Adam's Common - the story of Bostonian Peggy Donovan who relocates to a very ugly industrial city in England (and NOT the chocolate-box Cotswold-esque British countryside that she had imagined!).

The synopsis only tells you half of this story: "Peggy Donovan is horrified when she hears that the Council are planning to build over Adam's Common - the beautiful green spur of unspoilt land stretching right into the heart of the town. For Adam's Common is the only thing that she really likes about her new home and life in ugly, industrial Traverton.

But there is more than just beauty that draws Peggy to the Common - some mystery, some long-forgotten secret. Why is it called Adam's Common? Who once lived in the ruined house that she feels she must visit again and again? Who is the strange boy she sees, who seems to vanish into thin air? Peggy knows only one thing for sure. She has got to do something to try and stop the development from going ahead - even if it means looking for answers in the past... "

There's a whole second half to this story (and I won't spoil it), set in another time period altogether. And it was both grittier and scarier than I expected (you can read my review for more info).

This covers a deadly cholera epidemic and the human rights of the lower classes during the Industrial Revolution. It also shows a plucky (and very likeable) American girl integrating into 1970s Britain.

I loved everything about this one. You can still find it cheaply secondhand, but it's so good (and could be used for educational purposes as well), I really feel it deserves reprinting.