BfK 8 – 10 Junior/Middle continued


and resolves to do something about it. Narrated from Addie’s perspective,


we gain an insight into her perceptions of the world and others’ reactions to her. Addie has a great deal of understanding


of her own needs


and how to cope in a neurotypical world which often means masking her responses, where she doesn’t understand big sister Keedie, who we find is still struggling herself, is there to explain. Scenes describing Addie’s experience of bullying at school bring home the reality of life as an autistic child


but also acknowledge the


motivation of the chief culprit too. Addie is an appealing character and


readers will be on her side as she fights the blinkered stubbornness of local bureaucracy to achieve her aim of a memorial to village women tried for witchcraft with the help of her family and new best friend Audrey. SMc


the mysteries and will they be able to escape the horrendous conditions that they have had to live in? You will have to read the story to find out. If


you are a fan of well plotted


and exciting crime stories then you will absolutely love this book. The author has mixed a superb blend of historical fact with a brilliant thriller. The atmosphere is intense and you really get a sense of the conditions in which the girls lived. The Old Town in Edinburgh still exists and you can visit the maze of alleys and lanes, some of which have legends of ghosts and murders. Whilst this is very much an adventure story, full of danger and intrigues it also has some very serious underlying themes. We


have for women at


the lack of opportunity all social


levels, the


horrendous difference between rich and poor and levels of discrimination that are almost unimaginable. Each of the three ‘sisters’ is looked down on for being poor, being black or being Irish. A character who appears later in the book, Aelfine, faces even worse treatment as she would appear to have Down’s Syndrome. However, the author uses these things to highlight the strength and courage that the girls show in overcoming these challenges. This is a fantastic story and one that will find a very willing readership among ‘middle grade’ readers. MP


Freddie’s Amazing Bakery: The Cookie Mystery


HHH


Harriet Whitehorn ill. Alex G Griffiths, Oxford University Press, 128pp, 9780192772022, £5.99 pbk


A lovely sized book for lower key


The House of Hidden Wonders HHHHH


Sharon Gosling, Ill. Hannah Peck, Little Tiger, 320pp, 97878895906, £6.99 pbk


Victorian Edinburgh in the late Victorian period is a complicated mix of grand houses and wide streets, but it is also the home of ancient hovels that have theoretically been abandoned, but which in fact house the destitute and desperate of society. Zinnie is one of the latter and scrapes a living in order to look after herself and her two ‘sisters; young girls who are parentless and because of their backgrounds are deemed to be not worth helping. Zinnie finds herself helping a young Arthur Conan Doyle (a medical student) retrieve a lost watch and soon finds herself caught up in his investigation of mysterious occurrences. When her youngest ‘sister’ Nell is taken ill, the girls are brought into the world of Sophia Jex-Blake, the first woman doctor in Scotland and the fictional Lady Sarah Montague. Life becomes ever more complicated and dangerous as they discover murder and some very ruthless criminals. Can the girls solve


stage readers. This is currently a very popular layout with a slightly squarer shape, a quirky font and lovely rounded shaped illustrations which are very appealing to primary children. Freddie is a fantastic baker and


an all round good chap. He is kind to everybody, he is popular and he makes amazing cakes. Of course he has a rival who doesn’t like somebody being better than him AND so he steals Freddie’s cakes out of jealousy. Not only that but a celebrity cat


called Cookie also goes missing in the local town along with Freddie’s dog (called Flapjack) disappearing intermittently, stealing food whenever he does so. The characters are great in the story and it has lots of cake references so what’s not to like? Freddie remains considerate throughout the book and demonstrates how to treat everybody- even being kind when somebody is unkind to him. The animal characters are particularly fun and cheery - both the drawings and the descriptions. There are mysteries to be solved but in a fun, enjoyable way. The storylines all meet in a happy ending, with more cake of course and plenty of scope for more stories with the fun characters. Best of all


26 Books for Keeps No.242 May 2020 Super Happy Magic Forest


and the Humongous Fungus HHHHH


Matty Long, ill. Matty Long, Oxford University Press, 192pp, 9780192771490, £6.99 pbk


This is the first chapter book by Matty Long, but it features familiar characters from his very popular Super Happy Magic Forest series of picture books, and is generously illustrated in his usual joyous style, albeit in black and white. Fans of the series will be delighted


to see the likes of Hoofius the brave faun, Blossom the greedy unicorn and Trevor the witty mushroom in a feature- length outing, and new readers will be grateful for the hilarious character profiles that open the book, which outline the essential details of each of the Super Happy Heroes (such as Herbert the gnome’s unparalleled picnic-packing ability!). There’s also a handy, labelled visual guide to the forest - an essential addition to the chronicle of any epic quest. The heroes’


adventure begins


when the life-giving Rainbow Dragon is struck down with an illness that no amount of frolicking can cure, and not even The Council of Happiness knows what to do. Only the sage old Gnomedalf has any suggestions, and he sends the Super Heroes off on a mission to collect the magical ingredients needed for the cure. Thus begins the archetypal quest


story - and Matty Long plays brilliantly with the stereotype of the band of brave adventurers making their way through dangerous enchanted territory in order to acquire random, mystical objects and save


the maximum comedy,


character, from leprechaun to butterfly to talking flower, is carefully crafted for


and every


twist and turn of the journey offers the heroes an opportunity to show off their unique and seriously silly talents. There is a deliciously evil super villain in the Humongous Fungus himself, whose henchmen are an army of evil miniature spores who help him spread sickness and toxic evil. He seems utterly undefeatable and provides


there is a glossary of cooking terms at the back and a recipe for Freddie’s Thumbprint Cookies. I’m off to try them-they sound delicious! SG


genuine menace and threat, which is a welcome balance against the constant presence of comedy. Though there jokes,


are conceived and the laughs


well- are


overwhelmingly provided by Long’s cartoons


accompanying


captions. It is astounding how much characterisation is created through such


toadstool’s oscar-worthy, and


simple drawings. Trevor facial expressions are


the are


achieved


through nothing more than two dot eyes and a mouth! This is a super happy magic book, which satirises the current cultural obsession with unicorns and all things enchanted, but in a friendly, frolicking manner and always, always comically. It will have young and older readers giggling all the way through. SD


Agents Of The Wild-Operation Honeyhunt


HHHHH


Jennifer Bell, ill. Alice Lickens, Walker Books, 182pp, 978-1-4063-8845-9, £6.99 pbk


This delightful and beautifully


presented book, the first in a series, adroitly combines entertainment and education.It features the indomitable Agents Of The Wild who represent the


Society for Endangered and the Protection Awesomely of Rare


Species, aka SPEARS. Their aim is to recruit Agnes Gamble into their ranks. Agnes is an orphan who lives in an unpalatable high-rise block with her Uncle Douglas after the deaths of her world-famous botanist parents. The SPEARS agents are all animals with the power of speech and gloriously eccentric


apparel and behaviours, day. Every


dedicated to preserving endangered species. Agnes successfully


passes Attie (an elephant her


unusual recruitment tests and sets off to the Atlantic Forest with field agent


shrew


dressed in jungle fatigues) on her first mission-the rescue of a rare bee which has become separated from its colony and is being sought by the unscrupulous Axel Jabheart for his illegal collection. Needless to say, the bee-Elton, the choreographer of the


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