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|summary=If you, like me, thought this was a vanity project, then be prepared to be staggered. A boy discovering fairies has hardly been covered in a better way.
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"The 'hurricane' of 1987, that Michael Fish famously dismissed while it was en route, brought a lot of destruction, that we know. But what hasn't been known before now is that it also brought a dead body to Asa Brown's attention - the dead body of a fairy. Looking into things at the local library the lad finds more and more clues that a local eccentric, two hundred years previously, had been the only other person to know of the sprites' existence. But what the clue trail leads to, Asa would never possibly suspect...
Throughout this short and lovely book there are clues Crook knows exactly what he is doing. There's a brilliant beat when the mundanity of school closures and other evidence of the storm's passing are knocked to one side by the dead fairy. There are touches put in purely for adults - or exceedingly knowledgeable kids - like Asa living near Cottingley Woods, and Napoleon's monkey. And there are each and every one of the author's own illustrations, which are nigh-on outstanding. Mostly bold ink outlines with textured pencil shading (I think), they marry the slightly cartoonish with fine art, and show Crook could easily have had that as a career.
I must thank the publishers for my review copy.
"
For a different species of sprite, we fancy [[Tollins: Explosive Tales for Children by Conn Iggulden and Lizzy Duncan]] will entertain those slightly younger than Crook's audience. While for those just a bit older, why not let their hero encounter gods instead, with [[Wishful Thinking by Ali Sparkes]]?
{{amazontext|amazon=0571240712}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=8444459}}
 
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