A Pinch of Magic (A Pinch of Magic Adventure)

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Who were your favourite writers as a child? Controversial choice nowadays, but the author who made me a reader was Enid Blyton. I adored the Famous Five books, as well as the Malory Towers and St. Clare’s series and read them all over and over again. I loved the idea of children going off on their own and having adventures. I also enjoyed the Gobbolino stories by Ursula Moray Williams, and the humour and darkness of Roald Dahl. Later on it was the Point Horror books and then Christopher Pike who kept me reading throughout my teenage years. I loved being scared, and these were the stories that inspired me to start writing my own. Are you sure you won’t come with us?” Betty asked, a note of pleading entering her voice. It had always been such fun, the three of them getting into their Halloween costumes each year. “It won’t be the same without you.” LoveReading4Kids exists because books change lives, and buying books through LoveReading4Kids means you get to change the lives of future generations, with 25% of the cover price donated to schools in need. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. Fliss’s expression was unreadable as she gazed past Betty to the window. “It’s best you stay close, anyway. It’s looking a bit foggy out there. Taking a ferry over the marshes could be dangerous.” She turned away to serve as a hoity-toity regular named Queenie rapped on the counter impatiently.

This story touches on some uncomfortable ideas – how to behave when you feel you are not the special one, what it feels like to unexpectedly be the villain of a story, how to deal with embarrassing family members – and shows how the three different sisters navigate these challenges. It’s a lovely rehearsal for some of the classic teen worries.

Sisters, secrets and spellbinding adventure . . . the perfect magical world to cosy up with this Christmas! It’s not the best sign: I sat down to write a review and I couldn’t remember how the story started. Betty is the middle daughter of three, with dad in prison and mum dead. Their overworked and dispirited granny (when she’s not been imbibing her spirits) looks after them in her dilapidated bar. Betty’s disgruntlement gets worse as her older sister, who used to be such fun, is now a sour sixteen year-old. As Betty reaches her birthday, she discovers the reason why. The curse is upon her and her sisters.

Under her mask, Betty gulped. She crossed her fingers within the folds of her cloak and fibbed. “Yes. We’ll stay by the green.” A Pinch of Magic is an easy read, with plenty of interest for a range of ages in the MG genre. How Betty’s adventure would pan out developed into plenty of suspense, although from a long way out (well, about 42% through) I had three-quarters of the solution. Loved by girls who want to adventure, light fantasy in a realistic setting – magical realism I suppose - healthy sibling rivalry, children as problem solvers and adults with feet of clay. I’m very grateful for the advance review copy – the book is published next Thursday, 7th February. A Pinch of Magic

Granny tutted. “I’m well aware of what everyone does, thank you. And it looks like scrounging to me, when you could be useful here.”