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The Magic Hour

Book Synopsis

Eleven-year-old Ailsa Craig is always late! To everything – her own birth, school, and even her own house exploding! Although it is certainly better to be late for that than early…

But then one day, Ailsa discovers the secret of a lifetime: An extra hour in the day. The Magic Hour which exists in a fantastical, parallel Edinburgh, accessed at twilight. As she explores this extraordinary place where anything seems possible, Ailsa can’t believe her luck. Her grades improve and life seems to be on the up – even the popular kids start liking her.

But messing with time, can have desperate consequences. When Ailsa discovers that the extra time comes at a terrible cost, she must battle the sinister forces at work and save herself, her parents and the world.

What would you do with an extra hour in the day?

A funny, high-octane, race-against-time adventure that is perfect for fans of Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, Amari and the Night Brothers, Pages & Co and Nevermoor.

Beautifully illustrated and brought to life by Alessia Trunfio.

From award-winning and celebrated creator of Spooks and Versailles, David Wolstencroft.

Our Review Panel says...

What could you do with an extra hour a day? Ailsa Craig, late to absolutely everything since the day she was born (two weeks late, at midnight), discovers the Magic Hour in the wake of her parents’ split and her house blowing up. Thankfully, she was late for that too.

Chased through a portal into an alternate, magical Edinburgh, Ailsa rapidly finds herself spinning her life around. With the extra time, her grades improve, enemies become (almost) friends, and it’s all just so intriguing and exciting that Ailsa doesn’t realise, at first, that anything too good to be true comes with a cost. And the costs are mounting up in a frightening way.

The Magic Hour is a fast-paced adventure packed with mythology and guided by the scientific method which will appeal to curious children in upper KS2 and Y7. Fans of The Train To Impossible Places, The Nowhere Emporium and Wonderscape will find much to enjoy here in a debut novel where the brakes are most definitely off…