Book Title: Wilde (available here)
Author: Eloise Williams
Publisher: Firefly Press
Publication Date: May 2020
Most Suitable For: Years 5-6+
Reviewed By: Caroline Relf
Eloise Williams, the Children’s Laureate Wales, has followed up the brilliant ‘Gaslight’ and ‘Seaglass’ with another intriguing and mysterious tale.
Wilde thinks she is weird. In fact, she knows she is weird. It takes a great deal of effort for her to blend in at her new school in Witch Point, especially when her arrival seems to coincide with the start of some very strange things happening. Birds behave strangely around Wilde and she keeps waking up in strange places not knowing how she got there. Things become more and more strange as the Year Six class get further into rehearsals for their end of year play about the local legend: a witch called Winter. Her classmates start receiving threatening notes containing curses that are signed by ‘The Witch’.
Magical and mysterious, this is a story about acceptance. It is about learning to accept yourself in order to be able to truly let in those around you and ‘fit in’. It is also about the conflict between the desire to be like everyone else and the need to be yourself. Wilde is desperate to work out what is happening to and around her. She wants to feel more connected to her mother and senses that the key to the mysterious happenings lies with her past. As the curse letters continue and accusations fly, Wilde has to find out who she really is, where she belongs and who she can trust with the truth. There are echoes of Skellig in this story in terms of warm friendships, dealing with loss and a touch of magic.
Fans of Eloise Williams’ work will not be disappointed with Wilde.
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You can order Wilde online or from your local bookshop or library.
Many thanks to the publisher for sending us a review copy of this book and to Review Panel member Caroline for reviewing it.
Where next?
> Visit our Reading for Pleasure Hub
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> View our printable year group booklists.
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