Friday 14 August 2009

YOUNG ADULT REVIEW: Waterslain Angels - Kevin Crossley- Holland


BOOK BLURB:

In the village of Waterslain in Norfolk, in the 1950s, a fragment from a carved angel's wing is discovered. Maybe the wooden angels that once supported the church roof were not, after all, destroyed centuries ago, but spirited away to safety. Two children decide to find them. There are few clues, but a strange inscription on the church wall leads them into terrifying places - up to the top of the church tower, down a tunnel where they are nearly drowned. Annie dreams of the man who was sent in by Cromwell to smash up the church, and of angels flying and falling. For Sandy, whose father, an American airman, was recently killed, the angels bring comfort. The whereabouts of the angels becomes clear to them - but then they discover that other people are hunting for them, and are determined to stop the children at all costs. The friendship between the boy adjusting to a new life in his mother's village, and the girl whose family have always lived on their remote farm, the haunting atmosphere of the Norfolk saltmarshes, and the strong sense of the past still present, give richness to a tense and fast-paced story of detection for younger readers.


REVIEW:

If your young one wants a detective tale that will not only inspire the reader but have beautifully put together scripts along with lovingly crafted descriptive passages then this is going to be the novel for you. Annie (our heroine) will generate a believable heroine who continues to grow as the tale unfurls as she continues to follow through the setting of this tale (the 1950’s.) Great work by Kevin and something that will find its way into more adults TBR lists as they discover this hidden gem. Great fun and something that I’m lending my father who remembers the Norfolk of the fifties with reverence.

No comments: