Some of you may have read Hilary McKay’s Costa Children’s Book Award for ‘The Skylarks War.’ If you did, you will be interested to know that she has new middle grade novel out called ‘The Time of Green Magic.’ It kept me engaged for a couple of what could have been very boring hours at a hospital appointment!

Abi is struggling to settle into life with her newly blended family. Her bedroom doesn’t feel like hers, and there’s nowhere  she can escape to and hide away. The decision is made that the family will move house so they all have a little more space. After a long and fruitless search, they finally look at a house so covered in ivy you could barely see its walls. With its wrought iron gates and door lantern straight out of Narnia – it’s perfect!

But there’s a strange magic about this house. As Abi is reading, she finds herself almost transported into the pages of whatever she’s reading. And then her younger step brother has a rather alarming visitor….

The nuances of life as a member of a new family are beautifully-observed, with all the annoyances (big and small) subtly documented. I’m sure that lots of readers will sympathise with Abi for having such annoying siblings.

The magic in this story is the quiet kind. Not loud bangs and flashes but infusing the very air the characters are breathing. It was wonderful to watch the mystery unfold on the pages in front of me. 

A quiet, enchanting read for bookworms aged 9+.

Library Girl.

*Many thanks to Macmillan for sending me this title to review*