Synopsis: Join the craftiest crew of orphans since Annie in an adventure full of unlikely events and dastardly deeds from debut author Sophie Wills and million-copy bestselling illustrator, David Tazzyman.
Life has been perfect ever since the orphans of St Halibut’s buried their matron – don’t look like that, it was an accident! Tig, Stef, Herc, and Pamela the goat just have to make sure nobody finds out they’re on their own.
Discovering that an Inspector is on his way, they’ll need to convince him that everything is peachy or they’ll be sent to the Mending House – where badly behaved orphans go, never to return. But the Inspector is not quite what he seems and things very quickly go from bad to spectacularly out of hand . . .
Release Date: 1st October 2020
Format Read: Ebook
Genres: Middle Grade, Humor
Pages: 292
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s for the e-arc copy to read and review.
Review: This book was so funny and whimsical, it totally gave off a Roald Dahl vibe throughout the book. It has an array of interesting characters such as the three lead children of St.Halibuts who are certainly not your typically written orphans. They are independent and incredibly strong willed children.
I loved how the story unfolded and the twists that you got along the way, there were the villains such as those running the Mended factory and then the Death inspector/s who you fear whilst reading for the children’s sake. The sneaky Arfur who you don’t know to trust or not. Then we meet an array of other interesting characters each who offer something different to the story.
It’s honestly incredibly funny and the fact that it pretty much starts with the death of their matron and it continues as a sort of joke through the story. Each page you turn there is something grotesque spoken about or shown such as Ma Yeasty (yuck) to amuse those younger who will find great pleasure in all the nastiness. Also it has a great amount of whimsical, nonsense that the kids say and do, plus an evil goat called Pamela.
Everything in this book is light and easy to read, it has so much to offer, it’s a really fun read and will take on a journey of sorts with the orphans. It’s certainly a book I think children would enjoy reading so much.
Where to buy: Amazon UK, Book Depository, Waterstones
About The Author:Sophie Wills grew up in Chelmsford, Essex. She failed the 11+, had a weekend job at a boarding kennels where she suffered workplace bullying from a goat and nurtured a dream to have a career she could do in her pyjamas. She worked at two London publishers before finally achieving her ambition by going freelance in 2003. She entered Mumsnet’s first Bedtime Story competition in 2012 and Michael Rosen picked out as a winner her story about a pig-riding sheriff. She lives on the edge of south-east London with her family.
About The Illustrator: David Tazzyman is an internationally acclaimed, awardwinning and million-copy bestselling illustrator. He worked as a commercial illustrator before falling into children’s publishing in 2006, illustrating Andy Stanton’s Mr Gum series which went on to win numerous awards, including the first Roald Dahl Funny Prize in 2008. Now David mainly illustrates children’s picture and fiction books and lives in Leicestershire with his partner and three children.
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