With midsummer fast approaching here in the Southern Hemisphere (acknowledging that it’s midwinter for northern folk), how could I not grab Pinch Perkins and the Midsummer Curse from the To Be Read pile?

I am so glad I did because it’s a fun, fastmoving, read with just enough scary to keep a reader on the edge of their seat.

Pinch Perkins and the Midsummer Curse is Junior fiction — but I always think the best test of children’s fiction is if you can read it to a child and enjoy it just as much yourself. For me, Pinch Perkins definitely passes that test.

By way of a “what’s it all about?”, Pinch lives among other magical Londoners in the community of Tricky Dragon Lane. She’s also an aspiring detective, in this case with a genuine mystery to solve. Several of the denizens of the Lane have been cast into an enchanted coma, AKA “the Sleeping Beauty curse.”

One of those affected is Pinch’s Mum — and there’s a time limit before it becomes irreversible. So now she (Pinch, that is, not her Mum — she’s in a coma) is in a race against time to solve the case and end the curse. The quest that follows involves ruffians and ghosts, the Fairy Court and a Hare Line, Wayland Smith and King Arthur’s knights — and a devious and unexpected villain. In the midst of which Pinch, and her friend Henry, elude and outwit those out to stop them, while meeting and making new friends.

I loved the characters, the story, and the imaginative use of fairytale and folklore to weave the tale — and was very often smiling as I read. So as you may guess, I’m thoroughly recommending Pinch Perkins and the Midsummer Curse for the Junior readers in your life. And anyone, really, who likes a rollicking fantasy yarn. 😀

In terms of tales of like kind, I think that readers who have enjoyed Harry Potter (particularly the earlier books), The Graveyard Book, or Eight Days of Luke (or any number of others 🙂 ) by Diana Wynne Jones’, will find much to like in Pinch Perkins as well.

Coming Soon: 30 January 2025

I also understand there’s a sequel coming out very soon on 31 January, in fact: it’s Pinch Perkins and the Nightmare Tree.

By way of dis-clos-ure, I read a paperback edition (373 pp) published by Farshore (HarperCollins Publishers)in 2024, which I purchased from a local bookshop.