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Find out about some fantastic books that take you to secret places!
Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo
Michael is swept onto an apparently deserted Pacific Island
Survival depends on the help of a mysterious stranger!
Review
When a giant wave sweeps Michael and his dog Stella Artois
overboard from his parents' ship, the Peggy Sue, they have little
hope of rescue. Clinging to a football, they struggle through the
waves and are washed up on an island. Michael tries to survive on
his own, but the strange noises that the gibbons make are scary,
and it seems there's no food or water to be found. However, there
is life on the island, and when Michael wakes up he finds food and
drink have been put out for him. Who is the mysterious man who
brings it, and can Michael trust him? (10+)
Secret Passage
The island looked perhaps two or three miles in length, no more. It
was shaped a bit like an elongated peanut, but longer at one end
than the other. There was a long swathe of brilliant white beach on
both sides of the island, and at the far end another hill, the
slopes steeper and more thickly wooded, but not so high as mine.
With the exception of these twin peaks the entire island seemed to
be covered with forest. So far as I could see there was no sign of
any human life. Even then, as I stood there, that first morning,
filled with apprehension at the terrifying implications of my
dreadful situation, I remember thinking how wonderful it was, a
green jewel of an island framed in white, the sea all about it a
silken shimmering blue. Strangely, perhaps comforted somehow by the
extraordinary beauty of the place, I was not at all down-hearted.
On the contrary I felt strangely elated. I was alive. Stella Artois
was alive. We had survived.
From 'Kensuke's Kingdom' by Michael Morpurgo. Text copyright ©
Michael Morpurgo 1999.
Published by Egmont Books Limited 2000
The Kingdom by the Sea by Robert Westall
Harry survives a bomb blast, only to lose his family!
He and his new dog face a perilous sea crossing!
Review
A blast from the air raid siren and along with Mam, Dad and his
sister Dulcie, Harry Baguely stumbles down to the shelter. Just as
he does every night, Harry starts counting. Everyone knows that if
you're still counting at ten, the bomb has missed you; but the last
number Harry can remember is seven. Although Harry survives,
everything else is lost. So begins Harry's journey of survival, in
search of food, friendship and finally a place of shelter. With
only the dog, Don, for company, Harry creates his own world and
sorts out just what really matters in his life. (10+)
Secret Passage
It was not quite dark when he saw the cottage, right on the edge of
the cliff. There was no smoke coming out of the single chimney. And
it was a funny place for a cottage to be, somehow. The land seemed
to be crumbling under its edge, and it was tilting ever so slightly
seawards, as if it might fall down the cliff at any moment. But, it
wasn't falling apart; it was tilting all together, like a tin toy
cottage. It had no garden, and no sign of life. He crept closer.
The windows looked funny, not right somehow. There were slates off
the roof, and dusk showed through the rafters. Not much shelter
from the rain there. But worth a look. He tiptoed up to it,
silently as he could.
From 'The Kingdom by the Sea' by Robert Westall. Text copyright
© The Estate of Robert Westall 1990.
Published by Mammoth 2000.
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Miserable orphan is transformed by a locked garden!
Her invalid cousin learns to walk!
Review
Orphaned after both her parents die of cholera in India, Mary is
sent back to England to live in her uncle's bleak, grey house on
the Yorkshire moors. Cross and miserable, Mary explores the house
and its garden and comes across a high wall with apparently no way
in. Only the robin, flying in and out over the wall, seems able to
enter this mysterious place. Then Mary finds a key, and with the
help of the robin discovers a way into the garden. She is
spellbound. As the garden weaves its own magical spell, Mary and
her family are changed forever. (9+)
Secret Passage
The sun was shining inside the four walls and the high arch of blue
sky over this particular piece of Misselthwaite seemed even more
brilliant and soft than it was over the moor. The robin flew down
from his tree-top and hopped about or flew after her from one bush
to another. He chirped a good deal and had a very busy air, as if
he were showing her things. Everything was strange and silent, and
she seemed to be hundreds of miles away from anyone, but somehow
she did not feel lonely at all. All that troubled her was her wish
that she knew whether the roses were dead, or if perhaps some of
them had lived and might put out leaves and buds as the weather got
warmer. She did not want it to be a quite dead garden. If it were a
quite alive garden, how wonderful it would be, and what thousands
of roses would grow on every side?
From 'The Secret Garden' by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Published in
Puffin Books 1994
Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
Grandfather clock strikes 13!
Tom discovers a special passage into the past!
Review
Tom Long is furious at being sent away from home during the holiday
just because his brother has measles. Staying at his aunt's flat in
a stuffy house, in a bedroom with bars on the window, there seems
to be nothing to do, no one to play with and nowhere to go. Then
everything changes; lying awake long after bedtime, he hears the
old grandfather clock ticking away and chiming out the hours.
"Hurry!" the house seems to whisper. Tom gets up in the middle of
the night and finds the strange, magical moonlit garden where Hatty
plays. A wonderful and mysterious fantasy. (10+)
Secret Passage
Tom had stepped forward instinctively, catching his breath in
surprise; now he let his breath out in a deep sigh. He would steal
out here tomorrow, by daylight. They had tried to keep this from
him, but they could not stop him now - not his aunt, nor his uncle,
nor the back flat tenants, nor even particular Mrs Bartholomew. He
would run full tilt over the grass, leaping the flower-beds; he
would peer through the glittering panes of the greenhouse - perhaps
open the door and go in; he would visit each alcove and archway
clipped in the yew-trees - he would climb the trees and make his
way from one to another through thickly interlacing branches. When
they came calling him, he would hide, silent and safe as a bird,
among this richness of leaf and bough and tree-trunk.
From 'Tom's Midnight Garden' by Philippa Pearce. Text copyright
© Oxford University Press 1958.
Published in Puffin Books 1976.
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Swashbuckling adventure on the high seas!
A wicked pirate, a map and the race to find hidden treasure!
Review
Cutthroat pirates, long-buried treasure, ancient feuds and
bloodthirsty battles - Treasure Island stands out as a timeless
classic. Told by Jim Hawkins, it's a spellbinding adventure from
the moment that Blind Pew comes tap, tapping up to the Admiral
Benbow Inn and gives Billy Bones the Black Spot. What follows is a
rip-roaring, sea-faring yarn as the Hispaniola sets sail to find
Treasure Island, and to uncover the secret hoard hidden there. Rich
in characters - including Long John Silver with his parrot Captain
Flint, and Ben Gunn - and full of skulduggery, heroism, fear,
sadness and humour, Treasure Island is an unforgettable tale.
(11+)
Secret Passage
The appearance of the island when I came on deck next morning was
altogether changed. Although the breeze had now utterly failed, we
had made a great deal of way during the night, and were now lying
becalmed about half a mile to the south-east of the low eastern
coast. Grey-coloured woods covered a large part of the surface.
This even tint was indeed broken up by streaks of yellow sandbreak
in the lower lands, and by many tall trees of the pine family,
out-topping the others - some singly, some in clumps; but the
general colouring was uniform and sad. The hills ran up clear above
the vegetation in spires of naked rock. All were strangely shaped,
and the Spy-glass, which was by three or four hundred feet the
tallest on the island, was likewise the strangest in configuration,
running up sheer from almost every side, then suddenly cut off at
the top like a pedestal to put a statue on.
From 'Treasure Island' by Robert Louis Stevenson. Published in
Puffin Books 1994.
