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Recommended by Ruth Holder (@MrsRHEnglish)
Form and genre: prose, gothic, action, mystery
Length: 270 pages
Summary: Irene’s family moves after her father dies and her mother gets a job as housekeeper for enigmatic toymaker, Lazarus Jann, whose sick wife has been shut away for years.. Strange events and figures, mechanical and shadowy creatures, chases…an exciting story!
Age recommendation and challenging content: Key character is murdered
Chases – strange shadowy creature
Selling of soul
Mild romance (nothing overt)
A backstory of child cruelty
Challenging storyline at times (some pupils find it complicated at times)
Would recommend for Y8.
Notable reasons for recommending this book: Great example of excellent descriptive writing, and action writing.
