By Hilary McKay (Macmillan Children’s Books)
Salt spray had twisted her already curly black hair into tight salty springs. They blew into her eyes and stung. She pushed them aside, hardly noticing, and read deeper and deeper.
Reading was Abi’s escape…but could there be more to it than just escape?
When Abi’s dad marries Max and Louis’ mum, the plan is to be one big happy family, but plans can go awry. Forced to move, and finding it hard to adjust to being part of a large family, Abi hopes that the ivy-clad house, with more space and its “Narnia like lantern” by the front door, will be a new start and that things will get better.
But unsettling things start to happen, and not just to Abi. Falling into books, shapes moving in the shadows, and eerie visitors accidentally invited in – is it perhaps, as Granny Grace says, a time of green magic?
With the tension slowly increasing in the house and trouble increasing outside, Abi and Max are reluctantly but inevitably drawn together to protect Louis, in a situation that risks careering wildly out of control.
The Time of Green Magic is a bewitching story of unimaginable magic, which catapulted me into the rocking-horse room of the tall, narrow house. McKay perfectly depicts the complexities of two families brought together; not just the joy and love it can bring, but also the difficulties in navigating a new way of living, with new people in your life. On top of this she weaves an enchanting story, full of wonder and warmth, and more than a dash of danger, featuring three brilliant and engaging characters that will resonate with children everywhere.
A book that grabbed me from the start; I read it in one sitting, unable to leave Abi, Max and Louis alone in the time of green magic.
