''Attica'' is a 2006 children's

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

novel by the British writer

Garry Kilworth Garry Douglas Kilworth (born 5 July 1941 in York) is a British science fiction, fantasy and historical novelist, and a former Royal Air Force cryptographer. Early life Kilworth was raised partly in Aden, South Arabia, the son of an airman. Havin ...

Plot summary

12-year-old Chloe and her brothers: Jordy, 12, and Alex, 10, have the adventure of a lifetime. Chloe and Alex's father died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

when they were just 8 and respectively, 6. Their mother, Dipa has been trying to find a new husband since her children's father died. When she does, the kids have a surprise: they are going to have a new brother. Jordy, three months older than Chloe, is the exact opposite of Chloe and Alex, so they are not so happy when their family enlarges to five members. Ben, Jordy's father and Chloe and Alex's stepfather is a paramedic and Dipa, a doctor, so the kids are used not having their parents at home. But when they move to

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

to a rented apartment everything is going to change. Mr. John Grantham, the old man that rented them half of the house he lives in, tells Chloe about the girl he loved in the 1930s and 1940s. Susan married a much richer and older man, but she gave Grantham a clock that sings

Frère Jacques "Frère Jacques" (, ), also known in English as "Brother John", is a nursery rhyme of French origin. The rhyme is traditionally sung in a round. The song is about a friar who has overslept and is urged to wake up and sound the bell for the mati ...

, a clock that he cannot find. Chloe offers to take her brothers and to search in the

attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...

and so the adventure begins. On their way, Chloe, Jordy and Alex discover all kinds of dark secrets of the attic, which they have named ''"Attica"'', and all sorts of weird characters, such as Atticans, a strange race of creatures with bumps on their heads that think that all humans are ghosts and monsters of the Attic.

Characters

*Chloe, born September 1994, main character *Alex, born 1996, main character *Jordy, born July 1994, main character 2006 British novels 2006 fantasy novels British children's novels Children's fantasy novels British fantasy novels Novels set in Hampshire 2006 children's books British children's books Children's books set in Hampshire {{2000s-fantasy-novel-stub