The Guardian: Fresh voices: 50 writers you should read now

Winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize for new writers

A Times Children's Book of the Week

A Guardian Top Teen Read of 2015

"Happy birthday, Stanly. We hope you like your present…"

Cynical, solitary Stanly Bird is a fairly typical teenager – unless you count the fact that his best friend is a talking beagle named Daryl, and that he gained the powers of flight and telekinesis when he turned sixteen.

Unfortunately, his rural Welsh home town is not exactly crying out for its very own superhero. London is calling – but what Stanly finds there is a good deal weirder and more terrifying than anything he could have imagined. Perhaps he should have stayed in Wales …