Monday, November 25, 2019

Wakestone Hall by Judith Rossell




The aunts have sent Stella to boarding school. As you might expect the rules are cruel, the food is disgusting and Stella is suffering. Luckily she makes friends with two girls who are also new and together they set out to solve several mysteries one of which is linked to Stella's own heritage. The final scenes will make you smile.

I loved Stella in the first two books - Withering-by-sea and Wormwood Mire - and this third volume did not let me down. You will swept away by the story. You will hold your breath during the chase scenes and marvel at the determination and bravery of our young hero - Stella and the wonderful loyalty she shows to her new friends - Ottilie and Agapanthus.  Read this detailed plot summary from Kids Book Review.

Judith Rossell is a master of description. Stella needs to find her friends Ottilie and Agapanthus who have been abducted. Stella and Joe, a young scrapper, follow some clues to a mysterious shop:

"The walls were lined with shelves of scientific instruments. Behind the counter was a workbench. Tools were arranged in rows. There were jars of screws and wheels and cogs. A microscope lay in pieces. A globe of the world was turning slowly, ticking and whirring, a tiny moon the size of a marble circled around it. A cage of delicate, twisted wire held a little bird with real feathers and eyes made of black beads. A small mechanical crocodile, of brass and ivory, stood nearby."

I should also mention the illustrations in this series are simply fabulous.



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