Absolute Zero is a 1978 children's novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by Helen Cresswell

Helen Cresswell

Helen Cresswell was an English author of more than 100 children's books, including the Lizzie Dripping series, and The Bagthorpe Saga...

, the second book in the Bagthorpe Saga

The Bagthorpe Saga

The Bagthorpe Saga is a series of 10 fiction books written by author Helen Cresswell between 1977 and 2001. The series became the basis of a TV comedy series - also called The Bagthorpe Saga - in 1981, and also won two International Reading Association awards...

.

Plot introduction

The Bagthorpe Saga follows the lives of the Bagthorpe family, who live in Unicorn House in an unspecified part of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The nearest large settlement is the (presumably) fictional town of Aysham. Jack Bagthorpe is the protagonist

Protagonist

A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

 with his dog Zero. Jack's family become involved in entering competitions.

Plot summary

Uncle Parker has won a trip to the Caribbean in a caption contest. In typical Bagthorpian style, the rest of the family immediately enter similar competitions in an attempt to better his prize but, much of the time, beating the others to an entry form is a victory in itself. With the Parkers on vacation, manic 4-year-old cousin Daisy comes to stay. Uncle Parker claimed her pyromania has passed, but neglected to mention the nature of her current obsession. As Daisy's activities bring the household to its knees using items such as paint, face powder, water and an invisible friend/entity named Arry Awk, Grandma manages to get herself arrested, Mrs Fosdyke is reduced to serving up dishes such as oxtail trifle, and the children are busy wrapping up unwanted prizes to give each other as Christmas presents. When the Bagthorpes eventually win a chance at fame and happiness, the fates deliver a chance for history to not only repeat but excel itself.

Release details

• 1978, UK, Faber and Faber
  Faber and Faber
  Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
  
   (ISBN 0-571-11155-6), 20 February 1978, hardback (first edition)
• 1979, UK, Puffin Books
  Puffin Books
  Puffin Books is the children's imprint of British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s it has been the largest publisher of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world.-Early history:...
  
   (ISBN 0-14-031177-7), 27 September 1979, paperback
  Paperback
  Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
  
  
• 2005, UK, Oxford University Press
  Oxford University Press
  Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
  
  (ISBN 0-19-275400-9), 3 March 2005, paperback