Chicken House Books ISBN 9781912626106 £6.99
This is a fantasy story set in a real place – Venice. You won’t learn very much about Venice, other than gondolas and canals; but you will read a cracking good story that gallops along, almost leaving you breathless.
Aribella is just turned thirteen, daughter of a penniless lace-maker, and discovers she has magical powers – when angered sparks and flames shoot from her fingers. As danger haunts Venice under the deadly red moon, Aribella is drawn into the world of the Cannovacci – those with special powers whose job it is to save Venice from danger of all kinds. Evil spectres rise up from the lagoons; deadly flooding threatens to overwhelm the city. Aribella and her new friends set out to save the day. Can they learn to control their new powers in time to defeat the evil threatening to destroy Venice and the world?
This is a story of friendship, and of being yourself rather than what other people want you to be. It is immensely readable and is suitable for good Upper KS 2 readers. I couldn’t put it down!
Alf Wilkinson