Who would believe Paula if she told them she’d had a conversation with a battery hen called Minny? Nobody would! Twelve-year-old Paula Brown is thrilled when she and her parents move from a flat in town to a country cottage. There’s even a farm right next door! And that’s where Paula’s adventures with Minny begin. But Paula can’t tell anyone about her encounter with amazing Minny; it must be kept secret – especially from her new friend Jamie – because it’s Jamie’s father who imprisons a quarter of a million hens in battery cages. Minny knows that Paula is kind, because tears come to her eyes at the sight of thousands of hens cooped up in tiny metal cages. She begs Paula to return to shed 10: ‘You see you’re our only hope,’ she calls down from her cage, high up on the top tier. Secretly,Paula works out a plan to rescue Minny in the dead of night. But has she the courage to face her parents’ anger – not to mention the fury of Farmer Dredge?
Clare Druce writes: "My goal in writing Minny's Dream has been to raise awareness in young people about an important and largely hidden issue. In giving Minny the hen the power of speech I've allowed her to tell her own story, a story of the terrible deprivation suffered by billions of hens, right now, on Planet Earth.”
Published by CatsEye Press.
About the Author:
Clare Druce co-founded the pressure group Chickens' Lib. The group's high-profile campaigning, based on in-depth research, did much to expose the cruelties inherent in intensive farming, both in Britain and across the world. She has written several books on the subject, including Chickens' Lib, a history of the campaign.
Clare trained in London as a musician and taught the clarinet for some years until the demands of the Chickens' Lib campaign claimed her full attention.
Clare was married to the late musician Duncan Druce and has two daughters. She lives in West Yorkshire.
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