Maeve Henry

This book hooked me in right from the start. As Mark walked through the park he could hear the leaves rustling behind him, when he stopped the rustling stopped. When he started walking again the rustling resumed. As a reader I could hear and feel the suspense that the author was portraying. A brilliant short read with lots of good twists about a family who have been traumatised by the death of a child.

A powerful short work exploring issues of bullying, grief, friendship and honesty with just a hint of haunting magic. The story is rightly an award winner, although now unfortunately out of print. Still readily available second hand though - and highly recommended.

Short book. Boring cover. Thomas is a young prince in a castle besieged by Raiders. He is drawn to seek out the mysterious Midwinter who hides in a nearby forest and retrieve the Sword that was stolen by him, in order to save his kingdom.p.4 – 5 Thomas is mortified after losing a sword fight to his father.