The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone by Jaclyn Moriarty
Bronte doesn't miss her parents, and she's not particularly sad when she learns of their terrible fate at the hands of pirates. And why should she be? After all, they just dumped her on Aunt Isabelle (without even asking if it would be a convenient arrangement for either party) when she was a baby. They swanned off to have adventures, and never once came back to check if their only child was healthy and happy.
| The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone by Jaclyn Moriarty | |
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| Category: Confident Readers | |
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Reviewer: Linda Lawlor
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| Summary: A young girl on an epic journey full of quirky and eccentric characters, with generous dollops of danger and even a little magic. Lots of fun! | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 400 | Date: October 2019 |
| Publisher: Guppy Books | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781913101039 | |
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As it happens, and in contrast with many tales of this sort where the heroine endures a childhood of dreadful deprivations and cruelty, Bronte is brought up in the very best manner by her aunt and the Butler. Still, afternoon teas and riding lessons don't make for a very thrilling story, and fortunately for us when she visits the lawyers for the reading of the will, our heroine discovers that her parents left some rather odd conditions. In fact, Bronte has been instructed to deliver a small gift to each of her other ten aunts. Not too awful at first sight - except that the aunts are scattered about all over the Kingdoms and Empires (apart from the two who are joint captains of a ship: they live at sea, of course) and she must make the trip all on her own. Absolutely, totally and completely on her own – no nonsense about her aunt and the Butler sitting two seats behind on the train to keep an eye on her. You must admit that's not much fun for a girl who's only ten years old, but there's no way to refuse or duck the job because the will has been edged with Faery cross-stitch. In other words, if Bronte fails in her mission the town of Gainsleigh, the only home she has ever known, will be ripped apart, piece by piece.
The adventures that follow are funny, charming, horrid and scary in turn (and sometimes all at once) and it takes all Bronte's kindness, bravery and good sense to get through each one more or less unscathed. She makes (and manages to misplace) a couple of good friends, and learns that even if most people in a family are kind and caring, it's a good bet that one or two will be mean or even downright nasty. The story is quite long, but divided into episodes so readers at the younger end of the range needn't be put off.
If you like tales of feisty young girls who embrace the adventures that come their way with aplomb and good sense and a talent for inventive and original thinking, you'll probably enjoy The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M Valente, The Company of Eight by Harriet Whitehorn and The Accidental Pirates: Voyage to Magical North by Claire Fayers. Not only do they share this book's delight in intriguing titles, but their heroines encounter a multitude of weird and wonderful characters and situations on their travels. Ideal for those readers who dream of journeys more exciting than the annual car trip to visit grandma.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone by Jaclyn Moriarty at Amazon.com.
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