This is a children's book published last year.
This is very much in the Alan Garner mould, with a strong sense of place where characters from folklore make their mark upon the modern world and supernatural evil is ultimately defeated by unlikely heroes in the shape of ordinary children.
I enjoyed the local (Norfolk) references and the main character is certainly appealing. Atmosphere is built up through description, though not too much of it, and events in the "real world" convincingly echo those in the supernatural world running alongside. The device of allowing different characters a voice in separate chapters works effectively in telling different parts of the story and widening perspective, and this technique could have been further enhanced through, say, using different fonts or varying the chapter heading illustrations.
It's a short read aimed at, probably, eight to ten year-olds, but I felt that there was a bigger story here trying to get out, and that it could have been meatier, more detailed and, dare I say it, longer? Fantasy novels of this type (Harry Potter, His Dark Materials etc.) do tend to get away with greater depth and length than other genres. On the other hand, this could be considered as filling a gap for slightly younger children who enjoy fantasy but haven't yet developed the reading stamina for those longer stories.
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