The Cloudchasers - Book 1 by Steven Hunt and David Richardson

For anyone looking to read a Young Adult's picture book, The Cloudchasers by S. Hunt and D. Richardson could be the book for you! The book is classified as a Dystopian text. This means that the plot actually explores real life social and political ideas that are set in a 'dark' world. I think this can be true for this book as it is set in a world where having an imagination is banned. The main character is a young girl called Alice, who is caught drawing pictures of the dragons she sees in the clouds. She knows that if she is caught again she will be sent away to have her mind 'cleared', so she escapes with her brother and a friend in a hot air balloon. As they explore other imaginative worlds, they realise they are being chased by The Catcher, whose aim is to bring them back to the bleak world of Bankertown. Alice is determined to find a way to restore freedom and imagination to the people of Bankertown, but will she be successful?

The Cloudchasers is the first book in a two-part series. The illustrations are very detailed and really help the reader to understand and feel what a world with no imagination could be like.