The Ghosts of Greenglass House – Kate Milford

"Frost was pretty much the worst." Do you need something to cosy up with for the quietest Hogmanay ever? I thoroughly recommend this book - for children of all ages! I utterly adored Greenglass House, which introduced us to Milo and his hotel-running family just as a group of shifty strangers arrive seemingly to spoil …

Secret Garden (2020)

As more and more of the 'big' movies are pushed back for a 2021 release, Friday night movies are tending more towards the low-key. Things like this: another adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's Secret Garden. Mary Lennox has grown up in luxury in India, but when her parents die she's sent back to England and the …

Rewritten – Tara Gilboy

"The problem with real memories, Gracie thought, was that they had actually happened." I enjoyed 2018's Unwritten, about a girl who discovers that she's a character from a book, escaped into the real world with her parents, but now having 'glimmers' of the story written for her. I wasn't wholly expecting a sequel, but it …

Cogheart – Peter Bunzl

"Malkin pressed his forepaws against the flight-deck window and peered out." Lily is not cut out to be a proper Victorian girl, preferring the adventures in her penny dreadfuls. But when her father's airship crashes and he goes missing, Lily's life is thrown into dangerous chaos. Aided by her pet mechanical fox, Malkin, and watchmaker's …

Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow – Jessica Townsend

"Morrigan Crow leapt from the Brolly Rail, teeth chattering, hands frozen around the end of her oilskin umbrella." (As per usual, vague spoilers for events in book 1 just by mention of how the second starts, and with what characters - read on at your peril!) Following from the events in The Trials of Morrigan …

The Halloween Tree – Ray Bradbury

"It was a small town by a small river and a small lake in a small northern part of a Midwest state." One spooky Halloween night, a group of boys find themselves on a fantastic journey through time to learn the origins of the festival. Their guide, Moundshroud, takes them to ancient Egypt, Celtic Britain, …

The Trials of Morrigan Crow – Jessica Townsend

"The journalists arrived before the coffin did." Morrigan Crow has a miserable childhood. She's a 'cursed child', doomed to die on her eleventh birthday and bringing dreadful luck to those around her until that day. Her family keep their distance, leaving her feeling more than a little unloved. Events transpire, however, to save her - …

In the Hand of the Goddess – Tamora Pierce

"The copper-haired rider looked at the black sky and swore." If you read my review of Alanna, the first book in this series, you'll know that I've waited several decades (!) to find out what happened to Alanna after those first adventures. So, was it worth the wait? Usual warning: just mentioning a character in book …

Alanna – Tamora Pierce

"'That is my decision. We need not discuss it.'" Back when I was but a tadpole and still book-mad, there was a glorious day at school when a book seller came to call and we all got to buy books. I'm guessing I was about 7 or 8 when I got this, oh, I loved …

Unwritten – Tara Gilboy

"Always, for as long as she could recall, Gracie had the memory of fire." After years of terrible nightmares, Gracie's mother explains the truth: they are both characters from a story, escaping to avoid the horrible fate written for her. Try as she might to live a normal life, Gracie is plagued by 'glimmers' of …