reviews


to the derelict gasworks where they discover a wilderness


knew existed and an injured wolf that needs their help. When their


8 – 10 Junior/Middle continued plot


they never newly discovered


wilderness with its amazing wildlife, is threatened by developers and local authorities all the children, including the Skull


brothers, combine their


skills to fight back and protect the wild area that they need by creating a nature reserve to be shared by the local community. This is a powerful and moving


story about the need to protect wild spaces in urban landscapes and the importance,


for children, of being


free to explore and make connections with the natural world. Barrington Stoke, Gill Lewis and the


charity


Rewilding Britain have combined to publicise the importance of enabling the engagement of young people with the natural world. This is a poignant and accessible book which portrays a sympathetic group


of


A Bleakley Brothers Mystery: What Manor of Murder?


HHHH


Christopher William Hill, Orchard Books, 265pp, 978 1 40833 293 1, £6.99 pbk


What Manor of Murder? is a classic murder mystery for younger readers. Its author, Christopher William Hill, clearly knows this genre inside out, and packs the story with countless classic crime tropes. Spooky old gruesome


murders, suspicious-


looking servants and enigmatic inspectors, give the book the feel of a good old Agatha Cristie romp, but the characters’ youth and a raft of spiffing good jokes make it perfect for a young audience. Eustace


and Horacio Bleakley Manor to


returning from boarding school to


spend


Michaelmas with their ludicrously wealthy relatives, all of whom are brilliantly quirky and unique. There is a curmudgeonly old aunt who pens famous crime novels, an uncle with a pickling obsession, an Egyptologist, a reckless bounder and some enjoyably stereotypical servants, including the


than-life cook and the humourless butler. When members


of


larger- this


vibrant cast begin being murdered, there is panic that the frightening legend of Old Bramble Head might be true. As the witless inspector struggles solve


to ‘whodunnit’, it’s up to


Eustace and Horatio (who have a useful


preoccupation for detective


work) and two other young guests (who have similarly useful interests in murder mysteries and Egyptology) to find the real culprit. William Hill twists and turns his


to help maintain the mystery


and increase the tension. The only bridge to the manor goes down in a storm, and almost everyone has a motive to kill almost everyone else! In the end, readers are treated to a classic gathering in the drawing room to reveal the murderer, with plentiful twists to unravel. What Manor of Murder? sustains


a thoroughly endearing old-fashioned tone


throughout, lampooning the


frightfully rich, posh upper classes and making use of classic vocabulary like ‘ripping’ and ‘right and proper’. Though certain coincidences seem a little too convenient at times (how handy that the victim’s last will and testament was recently


this is easily forgivable amongst all the exciting mayhem, mischief and murders! SD


The Dodo Made Me Do It HHHH young


people who have the determination and commitment to defend what is important to them. SR


Jo Simmons illus Sheena Dempsey, Bloomsbury, 978-1408877777, 304pp, £5.99 pbk


What starts out as a seemingly


familiar story – comic culture-clash- adventure as a city boy is forced to spend his Summer holidays with his granny in a tiny Scottish village – turns into something much more surprising and original, and not just because in his first week there the boy discovers the world’s last living Dodo. Danny dreads his holidays with


mansions,


Granny Flora: there’s nothing to do in the village of Kinoussie and the only other child within miles is bookish Susie, whose idea of a good time is watching TV documentaries on the life cycle of the tapeworm. But, inspired by his comic book hero, he is determined to find adventure somewhere, and where better than the small island in the bay, close to the centuries-old wreck of a Dutch sailing ship? The


treasure are it’s feathered, that


Danny discovers on the island is very precious indeed, but not what you’d expect:


loud,


and very strong-willed. Looking after the Dodo, because eventually even Susie agrees that’s what Danny has discovered, is certainly fun at first, but catering to the needs of a living animal is much more demanding than anything in the Zac Hanaway, Space Runaway adventures he so loves; the Dodo isn’t a pet, and it certainly isn’t a sidekick, even though it seems to understand everything Danny says, and what’s more, it really wants to go home. Danny has to admit that Susie is right, not only is he responsible for the Dodo’s happiness, but the information he needs might just be found in books. The plot bounces along from


altered!),


incident to incident, and there’s lots to have children laughing aloud. It should set them thinking too, about adventures – bigger and scarier in real life than Danny expected, but well worth going after even so. Lively and entertaining from beginning to end, and Sheena Dempsey’s illustrations are a treat too. MMa


The Secret Seven: Mystery of the Skull


HHHH


Pamela Butchart, ill. Tony Ross, Hodder, 196pp, 978 1 444 941 531, £6.99 pbk


The Secret Seven are back! Blyton’s peerless


popularity seems set to


increase even further as Pamela Butchart revisits the lives of the seven adventurers in this new addition to the classic series. The Mystery of the Skull pits Secret


the Seven club members


against some very curious new hotel owners, who have an unusual habit of digging up their garden with huge holes, and seem ill-prepared to run a hotel, serving half frozen fish pie in the restaurant! Naturally, the Secret Seven charge themselves with finding out all of the newcomers’ secrets, and set about invading privacy and meddling where they are not wanted, as much as they possibly can! Each character has an important


part to play in uncovering the mysteries,


bravely breaking and entering or even impersonating


be it keeping old Scottish


lookout, ladies!


Pleasingly, the girls in the group take on especially daring roles, and it’s the courageous actions of Pam and Barbara that really drive the story forward. As always, the grown-ups in the story are all villains or else unwitting bystanders who, thankfully, don’t get in the way of the SS and their mission. Purist fans will be relieved to learn


that the update of the series does not mean that the children are suddenly using mobile phones or the internet to solve their mysteries. The nostalgic venues


(big hotels, remain, as do the woodlands)


innocent yet courageous thirst adventure.


has


young heroes’ for


tone and atmosphere of her source material,


slightly


increased the pace of the action, with short chapters ending in cliffhangers.


While maintaining the Butchart


The mysteries and questions come thick and fast, though, at times, questions are answered a little early and cliff hangers are resolved on the very next page - the tension could be maintained a little longer. The convergence of the enormously


popular illustrator (Tony Ross) with the


classic success of Blyton is


undoubtedly a brilliant choice (Ross will also be illustrating the upcoming reissue of the first Secret Seven books). Ross always brings such life and energy to his pictures, which will reignite the sense of adventure for existing Blyton fans and attract new readers who will be eager to see what David Walliams’ illustrator has up his sleeve for this series.SD


The Legend of Kevin HHH


Philip Reeve, ill. Sarah McIntyre, Oxford Children’s Books, 160pp, 978 0 19 276608 3, HB, £8.99


The Legend of Kevin is the first in a new comedy series by the award- winning partnership of Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre. Its heroes are a roly-poly flying pony (Kevin) and a boy called Max who longs for a pet of his own. It is a comedy and an adventure about friendship and family, and it is very silly indeed. The story starts in the Outermost


West, a fantasy land where Kevin sits in his tree-top nest pondering whether to eat custard creams or bourbons for breakfast. However, this fantasy setting is soon replaced by one much more down to earth, as Kevin is blown in a wild storm onto the balcony of a block of flats in the very ordinary town of Bumbleford. The balcony is owned by Max and his family - a very ordinary family to whom readers will easily relate (mum is a hairdresser, dad is a builder, sister is a teenage Goth!). Max is, naturally, over the moon to have acquired a new, flying pet, but keeping it secret


from his parents is a little


tricky. He doesn’t have to worry about this for long, however, as pretty soon a torrential flood covers the town in water and everyone has much bigger things to worry about. The submersion of the town brings with it the most exciting passages of the story, as a daring rescue mission to remove the head teacher from a rooftop, and an underwater sortie to accrue more


biscuits from the


flooded supermarket, turn Max and his new portly pony into heroes. The flood also brings with it mysterious creatures from the Outermost West, some of whom are recognisable from Reeve


and McIntyre’s earlier horrendously mischievous hit,


Oliver and the Seawigs. Fans of that story will be excited by the return of the


sea


monkeys, who cause chaos and carnage that only Max and Kevin can sort out. Throughout the


narrative, the


author speaks to the reader directly through humorous asides, which invite the reader to place themselves into the story. This is a welcome addition as the story moves quickly and characters


Books for Keeps No.232 September 2018 25


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