Big Change for Stuart by Lissa Evans

Big Change for Stuart by Lissa Evans
Buy Big Change for Stuart by Lissa Evans at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Confident Readers
Reviewer: Ruth Ng
Summary: A great follow up to the previous story about Stuart, once again full of action and magical adventures. A fun and exciting read!
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 352	Date: April 2012
Publisher: Doubleday Childrens
ISBN: 978-0385618281
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In Stuart's previous adventure we saw Stuart discovering his Uncle's magical secrets. Now that Tony Horten's tricks have been found, Stuart is able to investigate how they actually work. During these investigations he discovers that they are rather more magical than you might initially think, but the magic of each item lasts for only one adventure each...will Stuart and April be able to uncover all of the secrets of the tricks and discover who their rightful owner is?

Lissa Evans picks up from where she left off in the previous book very easily. I expect you could come to this book without having read the previous one, but really the first story is so good you should start there! I liked the plot for this story, with single-use magical tricks that lead to a magical adventure and puzzle to solve. It makes for a lot of action and lots of different, exciting adventures for the various characters. There is the overall mystery too that needs to be solved, of who owns the tricks, and then the dilemma for Stuart of what to do with them if they are his. The friendship between Stuart and April is, once again, very well drawn, and there's added interest this time with April's two sisters (they're identical triplets) being involved in the action too. I liked their different characters and there's lots of humour between the sisters! Stuart's dad plays a role again too, and I do enjoy the long, convoluted way he has of speaking and I thought it was an interesting twist that when he found himself involved in one of the adventures he was only able to speak in monosyllabic words - quite a challenge for him!

The story is well paced and I found it kept me reading, intrigued as to what would happen next. The magical puzzles are intriguing and each adventure is different and well-imagined. There's once again lots of humour in the story, and I felt a sense of more peril for the main characters which added a more exciting edge to the story.

It's a great book for older primary age children and pre-teens and works equally well for boys and girls I think. I also think it would work well being read allowed to slightly younger children too who can't yet manage to read such a long book for themselves. Recommended!

You might also enjoy reading Charmed Life (The Chrestomanci) by Diana Wynne Jones

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You can read more book reviews or buy Big Change for Stuart by Lissa Evans at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
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