The Elixir by Lindsay Galvin illustrated by Kristina Kister

Ann has inherited the gift of healing from her late grandmother. She works with her parents, brother and sister in the family apothecary.

"The rest of my family followed recipes exactly when they made our normal tinctures, infusions and syrups. It was an open secret that I didn't follow a recipe. My parents only let me get away with it because my tinctures worked so well. My family also knew I scratched a spiral mark into the base of the glass bottles containing my special tinctures. They didn't know it was the sign my grandmother had taught me and that it helped my medicines work."

You have probably noticed some arcane words in this quote - tinctures, infusions and syrups. The year is 1665 and so, yes, this a story set in the past but wait a minute do you know what was happening at that time - the witch trials. Now the stage is set - Ann has gifts but others will be suspicious. There are witch hunters roaming the countryside. Ann and her siblings have been left in charge of the shop because her parents have been called away. To help make ends meet a border has moved into the attic room - and very strangely this young man is Isaac Newton. These are also the times of the plague. If Ann is able to heal the townsfolk will she be accused of witchcraft and can she survive the drowning trial?

Ann forms an alliance with Isaac- and together they strive to make a very special elixir - the elixir of life. Then her brother is in a terrible accident and Ann, without permission, administers a few drops of the mixture. Yes, her brother is healed. Isaac is furious and so in a moment of recklessness Ann grabs the elixir and drinks it. What will be the consequences?

Here are a few text quotes:

"Grandmother taught me that grinding herbs on a full moon, then letting them soak in the moonlight would make powerful extracts. ... I started with Vervain. Its colour was a rich chestnut brown, excellent for restoring strength and vitality. Next, I bruised some Horsetail and Yarrow, used in cases of bleeding. These were fluffy shades of blue and grey."

"I described how when I touched people, I saw their colours in my mind. When I knew the colours of my customers, I could recognise when a hue was missing and find the mixture to restore them. I explained how ingredients that were matched to a person's colour nearly always strengthened them."

This book has 110 pages so it is a quick one to read but it is also an absolute page turner. 

This is a truly gripping story where the tension is palpable as danger builds and impossible choices are made. There are plenty of unexpected twists and turns with an ending that took me completely by surprise. A masterful blending of history, science and fantasy that left me utterly captivated – and astounded! The illustrations are absolutely stunning and capture the time period and the emotion of the story perfectly. An enthralling page-turner that captures the indomitable spirit of a young girl who uses her innate abilities to help others and stand against hatred and prejudice. Book Craic

Lindsay Galvin packs lots of action into this short, ultra-readable novel, as Ann finds herself in danger after danger, while working to do as much good as possible. The final twist in the tale is particularly satisfying and this atmospheric, immersive story will keep readers gripped from beginning to end while the presence of Isaac Newton is an added treat. Love Reading 4Kids

Bookseller blurb: With a witchfinder skulking about town, gifted healer Ann and a young Isaac Newton must be careful not to draw too much attention in this high-stakes story from Lindsay Galvin. Will the discovery of the Elixir of Life lead to a death sentence for a talented young healer? Ann Storer has inherited her grandmother's mysterious gift of healing, which she shares through the special tinctures she dispenses in her family's apothecary shop. When she combines her talents with the genius of a young Isaac Newton, recently arrived to board above the shop, the two create an incredible elixir with seemingly unlimited powers. But seventeenth-century England is a dangerous place to display any special abilities, and Ann must hide all evidence when witchfinder Abel Geach arrives in town. So when the plague starts to run rife and those she loves are in danger, will Ann risk everything to help them?

When I see a Barrington Stoke title in a bookshop I always pick it up and read the blurb. I wonder why our stores here in Australia don't make a bigger deal of this series - they only seem to stock one or two at any one time. I found this one in a Newsagent in Deniliquin - they added it to their children's book section (which is terrific by the way) in November last year. If you don't have any books from this series click the label on this post to see other titles. I also recognised the art on the cover of this book by Kristina Kister (The Book of Wondrous Possibilities by Deb Abela).

I have also read these historical fiction books by Lindsay Galvin:

The Great Phoenix of London

My friend the Octopus

And The Elixir reminded me of these two books:

I love all the different cover of Tuck Everlasting

I have recently discovered this series and this title would be a terrific follow on from The Elixir

The Last Resort by Erin Entrada Kelly

"She went up one step. Two. She felt Teddy's breath on her neck. Another step. Another. Was it her imagination or was it getting darker and darker? Up another step. And another. The stairs creaked and moaned. She imaged herself as a brave, brave warrior, completely unafraid. She reminded herself that fear was what red them ... She thought of herself covered in blood ... She felt the fear growing in the pit of her stomach, sprouting and growing, and tried to damp it down. I'm not scare. I'm not scared."

I am not really a fan of ghost stories but one thing that the story needs to have is motivation. I need to know why the ghosts are there. In this case it is due to several crimes. One hundred and fifty years ago the circus that had come to town burned to the ground and all of the performers were killed. Investigators also discovered the ring master had been shot.

The second crime is more recent. Lila along with her brother and mother and father have moved into their grandfather's home. It was actually once run as an Inn. On the first night Lila is visited by the ghost of Grandfather Clem. He tells her he did not die from a heart attack - he was murdered. All he wants now is to go back through the portal so he can be reunited with his wife who died many years ago.

Now that we have the problem we can assemble the team to solve this - Lila, her brother Caleb and the boy from next door - Teddy. 

As with all mysteries (in books and on television) I tried to solve this before reaching the end. I thought I had worked out the murderer and his motivation, but things sure did get way more complicated in those final scenes. If you have readers aged 10+ who enjoy ghost stories and like books where kids solve a mystery then this is a book you can recommend. The writing is very atmospheric and Erin entrada Kelly does conjure some very tense scenes. Erin talks about her book in this video.  Ms Yingling includes lots of plot details in her review. 

Kirkus gave this book a star review: Hauntingly good and sure to possess any horror aficionado. It wasn't quite at that level for me but as I said I am not a huge fan of ghost stories and also I found it a little odd that Lila did not recognise the circus performers even though Teddy had already told her about the fire from last century. 

This book is the first in series and it contains extra materials which you access via a QR code. Decades ago I read another book from Scholastic that included an element like this but of course over time the link has disappeared. (The Skeleton in the Creek and The Ghost in the Machine). 

I love that the kids went to the library to read old newspaper reports about the circus fire. I also enjoy books that refer readers to other books - here is the one Teddy is reading when the kids go over to talk to him:

Here is the Goodreads blurb for Wait till Helen comes (1986): Heather is such a whiny little brat. Always getting Michael and me into trouble. But since our mother married her father, we're stuck with her ... our "poor stepsister" who lost her real mother in a mysterious fire. But now something terrible has happened. Heather has found a new friend, out in the graveyard behind our home—a girl named Helen who died with her family in a mysterious fire over a hundred years ago. Now her ghost returns to lure children into the pond ... to drown! I don't want to believe in ghosts, but I've followed Heather into the graveyard and watch her talk to Helen. And I'm terrified. Not for myself, but for Heather...

Companion book (just because it contains a mirror and the quest for immortality):

Juniper Berry by M.P. Kozlowsky illustrated by Erwin Madrid

My parents changed. "I can't describe it exactly. It's like all the lights in the house won't turn on anymore and it's always dark, and they can't see me. Like I don't even exist."

Juniper Berry lives a lonely life. Her parents are famous actors and they have made their home into a fortress. Juniper has no friends only a series of tutors and she lives behind a high wall removed from the real world. Her parents love and fear the paparazzi. Sure the house is filled with anything she might want but things are not friends. She used to have a good relationship with her mum and dad but recently that has changed. They no longer talk to Juniper. All they care about is their fame.

"One of these days her parents would come home from work and be thrilled to see her. The rest of the day would be spent in each other's company, not a minute wasted, not even a single second, just like it was years ago."

"She had grown accustomed to her isolation, carrying her binoculars everywhere, spying from afar, searching for what she was missing. ... Discovery and exploration were her salvation; if she couldn't go out into the world, she could bring the world to her; the stars, the insects, the unsuspecting distance. Everything but her parents."

One evening, after another unsuccessful attempt to reconnect with her parents, Juniper spies a boy in her garden. He seems interested in the trees in her garden. He is small and very skinny and he is doing something very strange. Giles is running his hands up and down the bark of various trees.

"Up close, she noticed he had a sweet smell about him and that his eyes captured a pattern she had never seen before, the brown and gold of his iris constantly swirling. He gave a soft smile and she liked the way one corner of his mouth ran up the other side of his face while the other remained level."

Giles is also alone. His parents are also ignoring him. Juniper and Giles have a common problem and it all seems to be connected to one specific tree. And then one night the parents disappear 

There are lots of hints in the description of the tree:

"It was an ugly tree. If any were to be chopped down, it should have been this monstrosity. Its branches were bare and sharp, reaching out as if to pierce the sky, although the sky did nothing to instigate such an assault. The tree, not incredibly thick, not incredibly thin, was riddled with knots and twists, roots that ripped the ground, killing the grass and welcoming the weeds. Nothing else grew from the base all the way to the top."

This tree is hiding a portal to a terrible underground place. That is where the parents have been going. But why? The children are about to meet a very sinister man.

"He was extremely tall, taller than any man Juniper had ever seen. In fact, almost everything about him had length. Each body part was extended: long legs, long arms, long neck, long fingers. He was enveloped in a ratty hooded cloak, his elongated face concealed in shadow. His bony pale fingers wrapped around a wood staff, and Juniper noticed his nails were long as well, and dark, as if painted midnight blue. As the shroud pulled tight against his body with each movement and gesture ... There seemed to be no fat whatsoever and little muscle - a fragile, lank, and stretched frame."

His name is Skeksyl and he want to make a bargain with the children - a bargain. 

"I have the ability to hand you everything you could ever want but believed to be unattainable."

"All you have to do is sign your name on my balloon and blow it up with the fresh, youthful breath from your lungs."

An astute reader will know this offer is sure to have a dreadful cost. And again, we need to ask why this creature is making this offer and how this is connected with the changes to their parents.

I am not a huge fan of Halloween - it actually seems like a strange event here in Australia where because it is Spring leading into Summer not Autumn leading in to Winter. The crazy huge pumpkins that appear in shops look totally out of place. Having said that, though, I know lots of readers ask for an enjoy 'horror' stories. Juniper Berry has just the right level of fright along with a glorious celebration of team work. The subtitle for this book is engraved on the tree - "A tale of terror and temptation'.

Publisher blurb: Juniper Berry's parents are the most beloved actor and actress in the world—but Juniper can't help but feel they haven't been quite right lately. And she and her friend Giles are determined to find out why. On a cold and rainy night, Juniper follows her parents as they sneak out of the house and enter the woods. What she discovers is an underworld filled with contradictions: one that is terrifying and enticing, lorded over by a creature both sinister and seductive, who can sell you all the world's secrets bound in a balloon. For the first time, Juniper and Giles have a choice to make. And it will be up to them to confront their own fears in order to save the ones who couldn't.

There are some terrific descriptions in this book. This is the library:

"Matching the themes of the room were a plush leather sofa and armchair as well as an unbelievably comfortable rocking chair and cushioned ottoman in one corner, a classically ornate fireplace, expensive modern and abstract artwork, and, in the center of the room, an oversized desk craftily designed with various drawers and compartments. ... But for Juniper, the very best thing about the study was the smell."

In conclusion, this book was really, really good and definitely one that will haunt me for awhile. And not just because of the balloons. If you enjoyed Coraline by Neil Gaiman even a little bit, you ought to read this book. CSI Librarian

The trope of taking the soul of individuals by an evil being intent on either the 'fountain of youth' or an immortality is one we have seen before in books like The Book without Words by Avi; Momo by Michael Ende; and Stitch by Padraig Kenny.

You could also take a look at this award winning picture book after reading Juniper Berry:

Paradise Sands

Stitch by Padraig Kenny

Stitch and his friend Henry are creations of an old Professor. Stitch is indeed stitched together from various human body parts presumably retrieved from graves. You are right to think of Frankenstein. Please don't be concerned though, because Stitch is such an endearing and kind character, and his naive view of the world is sure to charm you. I think children reading this book are sure to emphasise with the way Stitch has difficulty making sense of the world and of big topics like life and death and betrayal and the human desire for immortality.

Early in the story we are told Stitch has been ordered not to disturb the old Professor. Each day Stitch has his routine. He counts the days he has been 'alive' so we learn the story opens on day five hundred and eighty-five (you will immediately work out that this is not much longer than a year). I did wonder just how long Stitch has tiptoed past the professor's door and then just a few days later two visitors arrive at his castle home. The man is the old Professor's nephew - Professor Hardacre and his 'assistant' Alice. Very quickly Professor Hardacre realises something is wrong. He opens the forbidden door and discovers the old Professor has died. Death is a mysterious concept that Stitch just cannot grasp. Down in the basement of the castle, Henry, another of the late Professors creations is held in a cage. Stitch knows Henry has done something 'wrong' and so the cage is for his protection. Every day, as part of his routine, Stitch feeds his pet named Brown Mouse and he thinks about his other friend, White Rabbit, who is no longer there. Then he visits Henry for a chat. His routine is thrown into disarray with the arrival of these two strangers. There is something slightly disturbing about Professor Hardacre. Alice on the other hand is so kind and speaks gently to Stitch trying to explain the ways humans behave especially in relation to creatures and people perceived as different. She has first-hand experience of this because she has a hump on her back (you might think of another famous story about human reactions to difference The Hunchback of Notre-Dame).

Professor Hardacre has obsessive reasons for want to experiment with Henry. He sets up his equipment and waits for a night of thunder and lightning, but Stitch can feel this is all wrong and he is sure his best friend Henry is in danger. 

Here are some text quotes to give you a flavour of this story. You are sure to enjoy Henry's quirky invented words:

"As if to prove his point to himself, Stitch holds his hands up. One is very definitely smaller than the other. This is his left hand. It has long slim fingers. The other is large, almost bloated in comparison. Its fingers are stubby and fat. Both hands are grey in colour because all of Stitch's skin is grey ... "

"But if you are a monster, Alice, then that should mean you are horrible and cruel, and I haven't known you for very long, but I know for a fact that you are not horrible and cruel. Far from it. To me you seem to be a very nice individual, wise and generous in your insights and behaviour."

"Dead,' says Henry. 'I believe I have heard the word, although I confess I do not fully understand it. This is quite surprising because I have picked up a lot of knowledge in my own studies and assessments of the world."

"Hodgepodge Henry Oaf. A mixture of bits and pieces of different people, which goes some way to explaining some of my more inexplicabubble bouts of mischief."

In her review for Magpies Magazine (Vol 39, issue 2, May 2024) Dr Robin Morrow said:

"This book succeeds as a gripping adventure story, while provoking thought and discussion about topics such as the humanness of these beings, friendship, difference, and responsibility."

Reading Zone: The overriding message is that it does not matter what you may look like. What is important is being a good person, doing the right thing, and standing up for your friends. As Stitch says, "Everybody is different, and this is what makes the world such a curious and interesting place". Padraig Kenny has managed to wrap up a vitally important message in a thrilling adventure story. I believe that this is an important book which will be read and enjoyed - on many different levels - by children and adults alike. Highly recommended.

Moving and powerful, yet delicate, this story celebrates the uniqueness of every individual. It would be a great one for classroom discussion. Books for Keeps

Thanks to Walker Books Australia - I won my copy of Stitch. You can see Padraig Kenny talking about and reading an extract of his book here. This link also includes an interview with Padraig. And here is a teaching guide. 

Your local or school library might have a version of Frankenstein abridged for children such as this one from Usborne books.

I previously talked about this book by Padraig Kenny. When you read Tin I am sure you will see some ways the story has links with Stitch.

Tin

I would follow Stitch with Cogheart which also explores the idea of immortality.

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

In this book you will meet - beautiful Al-mirajes; Dragons of every size; a Kanko; a vicious Karkadann; some little Lavellans; a huge Longma; a very special Ratatoska; a herd of Unicorns and many others.

Publisher blurb: Impossible Creatures tells the story of a boy called Christopher who is visiting his reclusive grandfather when he witnesses an avalanche of mythic creatures come tearing down the hill. This is how Christopher learns that his grandfather is the guardian of one of the ways between the non-magical world and a place called the Archipelago: a cluster of magical islands, where all the creatures we tell of in myth live and breed and thrive alongside humans. They have been protected for thousands of years from being discovered; now, terrifyingly, the protection has worn thin, and creatures are breaking through.  Then a girl, Mal, appears in Christopher’s world. She is in possession of a flying coat, is being pursued by a killer, and is herself in pursuit of a baby griffin. Mal, Christopher and the griffin embark on an urgent quest across the wild splendor of the Archipelago, where sphinxes hold secrets and centaurs do murder, to find the truth – with unimaginable consequences for both their worlds. Together the two must face the problem of power, and of knowledge, and of what love demands of us.

As I read this book I added about 40 post-it notes marking my favourite scenes and sentences.  Here are some of them:

"This world has always had magic in it, Christopher. Aren't you holding a griffin in your arms? The magic grew with the Earth's first tree, from the tree it flowed into the soil, into the air and the water. In the Archipelago, they call it the glimourie."

"Some sentences have the power to change everything. There are the usual suspects: I love you, .... But the words with the greatest power to create both havoc and marvels are these - I need your help."

"He knew that sometimes, if you are among the very lucky, a spark of understanding cuts like lightning across the space between two people. It's a defibrillator for the heart. And it toughens you. It nourishes you."

Thank you, Katherine Rundell for mentioning delicious and essential food - this is something I always look for in longer complex books like this one.

"She spent hours running through trees with Gelifen (a griffin), looking for unicorns and gorging on waterberries."

"There was a wall of blue glass jars, containing sweets from across the Archipelago. There were balls of soft gum, harvested from the sea by sylphs, which gave you brief bursts of great physical strength, but if you chewed too long gave you a rash of scales across your hands. There were ruinously expensive candies called voulay-drops, made my centaurs in the mountains of Edem. They tasted of that which craved most, but also, if you ate more than one, made you vomit something black for days afterwards."

"The table was laden with food. There was a beautiful moist nut cake, and fresh cinnamon twists, and a plate of biscuits still hot from the own.  Leonor was grey-haired, untalkative, unsmiling - but she showed her care in her cooking. She was the finest baker in the whole of Icthus: it was there that she put her patience, and her love."

"His grandfather had said that unicorns had a taste for mint. Quickly he tore open the pack and held them out in one hand. The unicorn dipped its mouth and sucked them from his palm, leaving it wet with unicorn spit. Then it touched its muzzle to his face, and breathed. Christopher felt the warmth on his skin and it smelt of mint and animal and something magnificently wild ..."

"There was a dark flat bread, which they ate dipped in olive oil. There was a slab of cream-coloured dried fish, delicious and so salty it was like eating the sea itself."

"He had been given a woven bag of apples, of plums and pears and apricot: dryad fruit, like nothing else on earth. They tasted still-living fruits with opinions and jokes and laughter in them."

Overtones of folklore; mythology; fairytales; and CS Lewis (the final scenes are sure to make you think of Aslan and Narnia):

"It had been years now since Mal had first learned to fly. a travelling seer had given her the flying coat soon after she was born. He had named her and laid the coat at her small feet." I thought of Sleeping Beauty.

Vocab: phalanx of swans; rhinocerosed; gainsay; scrofulous. And there are lots of invented words too. 

Names are important in this book too (think of A Wizard of Earthsea). Mal is short for Malum - and malum has a deep meaning - one that Mal herself has yet to discover. 

There is also a tiny thread of a love story in Impossible Creatures. I am not going to spoil this with any details, but adult readers might think of scenes from a favourite movie where the two main characters briefly glance at one another and then look away or brush hands and it's electric - these tiny moments were thrilling for a romantic reader like me. 

The Guardian's Bestiary at the start of this book has art by Tomislav Tomić. He is from Croatia. The cover is by Daniel Egnéus. (I have talked here about two of his books - Fox and Raven Child. In the UK the hardcover edition has phoenix sprayed on the page edges - it looks so magical.

Image source: Instagram

One of my favourite parts of writing Impossible Creatures was creating a bestiary to go in the front of the book: a collection of twenty-one of the creatures you might meet in the Archipelago. It’s illustrated by Tomislav Tomic, whose artwork is magnificent - 

kluddes and kankos and karkadanns, longmas and lavellans. 

I am not a big fan of endorsements, but this book has a huge list of celebrity praises - Michael Morpurgo; Catherine Doyle; Philip Pullman; Neil Gaiman; Jacqueline Wilson; and Kiran Millwood Hargrave. 

Everyone on social media is so excited about this new Katherine Rundell book - and justly so. I have seen bookshop window displays here in Australia (Three Sparrows) and in UK (my bookish friend has shared them) and the Australian children's book podcast Your Kids' Next Read included an interview with Katherine Rundell [begin at 16.45]- this is quite amazing because this group (Facebook and Podcasts) are usually, almost exclusively, focused on Australian books. I was also amazed that that interviewer had not previously read any of Katherine's books - how did she miss them and why didn't she prepare for the interview?  Anyway, if you listen you can hear Katherine Rundell's absolutely beautiful, lyrical speaking voice. 

I completely agree with these review comments by Just So Stories: I cannot tell you how much I love this (book), and that will be demonstrated by the fact that I will be keeping my copy and will re-read it, more than once I suspect. Though I read it immediately it was received, in swift binge fashion (and cried), it has taken me two weeks to compose this review – which I fear still does not do it justice.

I also agree this book is best for mature readers aged 11 or 12+. 

Here is Katherine Rundell on Instagram. Here is a one hour video where Katherine talks with Michael Morpurgo about her book. I do need to warn you, I just read on the UK publisher site (Bloomsbury) that Impossible Creatures is the first book in a trilogy. The good news is that at the end of the first book we are not left hanging. Yes, another book will be very welcome but enough is resolved at the end of the first installment thank goodness. Listen to this short introduction by Katherine Rundell. 

Writing fantasy has been a huge joy. Impossible Creatures has been a long time in the making – I pitched the idea more than five years ago, and I’ve found it a magnificent challenge. I loved fantasy as a child, and I love it now as a writer – for the freedom it gives to wholly unleash your imagination. Fantasy seems to me one of the most exciting ways to wield metaphor: so that, in writing about griffins and dragons and horned hares and immortality and flying coats, you might offer children (who have such allegiance with the fantastic, in every sense) a way to fathom their own world. Katherine Rundell

I have read and LOVED so many books by Katherine Rundell and the delicious thing about her writing is that it defies categorization. She covers so many genres and themes but the one thing that links these books is that they are all page turners and for me, they are all FIVE star titles.

The Explorer

The Good Thieves

Wolf Wilder

Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms

I also loved these:

One Christmas Wish

Why you should read children's books

All through this book I kept thinking about this book illustrated by our Australian Hans Christian Andersen winner - Robert Ingpen and I have discovered he has a new book about mythical creatures too.

Companion reads:

The Threads of Magic by Alison Croggan

Pip (Pipistrel Wastan) is a pickpocket living off his wits on the streets of a city that feels like 18th century London but is fact an invented city called Clarel. Late one evening Pip sees two men attacked in a dark alley in a poor part of the city. A small box slips from a pocket and Pip pounces. Back at home, with his sister, the pair examine this elaborately decorated silver box. At first it seems they will not be able to open the box. Pip and El (Eleanor Wastan) are sure it must contain real treasure. Finally El suggests Pip should ask the box politely.  "All right then. Please, box, let me open you up."

There is a tiny click and the box opens to reveal something very strange. It looks like a small shrivelled-up heart. 

Who is the owner of this object?
Why was it in such a special box?
What is happening to Pip - the heart feels as though it is alive?

This object is indeed very valuable. There is a man, not the King of Clarel, who desperately wants this heart. When people look directly into the eyes of Cardinal Lamir they see some thing utterly horrible. The Princess also sees this in the eyes King Oswald who has come from Awemt intending to take Princess Georgette as his bride. Both men have eyes that are empty, empty without a soul.

Good and evil are at the heart of this story as Pip, El, Oni who is the daughter of a witch, Princess Georgette and the owner of the heart, Clovis, race to discover the truth, race to stay alive and race to save the whole kingdom.

There are 379 pages in this book and I almost read it from page one to the end in one sitting..  Yes, as I have said before when I gobble up a book, this means I loved it and yes, this book is THAT good. You will need to wait until March 2020 to pick up a copy of this book but I do suggest you add it to your shopping or 'to read' list right now.

The publisher, Walker Books, list this title for ages 9+ but I would suggest it will better suit an older reader of 10 or 11+.  The torture scenes are quite disturbing, there is a gruesome murder, there are elaborate details of court politics and the final battle between Lamir and Oswald is violent. The vocabulary used in this book is also quite sophisticated and I think beyond the understanding of a reader aged 9.

Here are a few examples of the vocabulary: intimidating, incalculable, uncanny, sensual, rampant, rustics, assailant, unerringly, domicile and grimoires.

I am excited to have found this book. Huge thanks to Beachside Bookshop for my Advanced Reader Copy.  The Threads of Magic is sure to be a 2021 CBCA Notable title and possibly short listed for our Australian Book of the Year award.

I would follow or pair this book with The Book without Words by Avi; The Boy who flew by Fleur Hitchcock; The Barnaby Grimes series by Paul Stewart; and for a very mature reader Fire Girl by Matt Ralphs.

The book without words by Avi

A couple of weeks ago I went book shopping and I selected heaps of terrific new books for my school library especially some titles for my Senior Primary children in Grades 5 and 6.

Over the next few blogs I will report on these exciting new books. I can’t wait to read them all!!!

Last night I finished reading The book without words. What I hear you say how could you possibly read a book without words? Well it wasn’t easy. No seriously this is a fabulous title from one of my favourite authors Avi . It was first published in 2005 but I have only just discovered it.

This is your classic story of greed, magic, potions and true heroism. The book without words can only be read by people with green eyes and strong desires. Sybil, her friend Odo the talking raven and Alfric must work together to thwart the evil powers of the magician Thorston who seeks immortality.

My favourite scene is quite early in the book as Thorston is making the potion which contains the four stones he needs for immortality. One special ingredient is the life breath of a young girl. This breath comes from our heroine Sybil. “He bent over the sleeping girl. With a quick, scooping gesture, he caught up a fistful of her sleepy breath – a hand bowl as it were, of her life. He clapped his other hand over it, trapping it.”.

My copy of this book has some terrific extras such as discussion questions, a glossary and an interview with Avi. I even learnt a new word in this story – reeve. He is a man who works for the mayor and from what I can discover this word is still used in Canada.