{"id":42751,"date":"2024-12-16T06:30:52","date_gmt":"2024-12-15T17:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=42751"},"modified":"2024-12-15T21:17:51","modified_gmt":"2024-12-15T08:17:51","slug":"what-im-reading-pinch-perkins-the-midsummer-curse-by-cathy-fitzgerald","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2024\/12\/16\/what-im-reading-pinch-perkins-the-midsummer-curse-by-cathy-fitzgerald\/","title":{"rendered":"What I’m Reading: “Pinch Perkins & the Midsummer Curse” by Cathy Fitzgerald"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Pinch Perkins and the Midsummer Curse <\/em>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<\/em> definitely passes that test.<\/p>\n

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.”<\/p>\n

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<\/em> in a coma) is in a race against time to solve the case and<\/em> 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.\u00a0In the midst of which Pinch, and her friend Henry, elude and outwit those out to stop them, while meeting and making new friends.<\/p>\n

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 <\/em>for the Junior readers in your life. And anyone, really, who likes a rollicking fantasy yarn. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

In terms of tales of like kind, I think that readers who have enjoyed Harry Potter<\/em> (particularly the earlier books), The Graveyard Book<\/em>, or Eight Days of Luke<\/em> (or any number of others \ud83d\ude42 ) by Diana Wynne Jones’, will find much to like in Pinch Perkins<\/em> as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Coming Soon: 30 January 2025<\/p><\/div>\n

I also understand there’s a sequel coming out very soon on 31 January, in fact: it’s Pinch Perkins and the Nightmare Tree<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recommended-reading","category-what-im-reading"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42751"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42758,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42751\/revisions\/42758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}