Ah, that first day at a new school; butterflies in your stomach, confusion about what you’re supposed to do and, of course, who you’re supposed to talk to.
Ten-year-old Suzette Smith starts out at Grovely Road Junior school with all these usual worries and, when she notices how drab and spooky-looking the school building is, even more fears start to lodge themselves in her young mind. Sadly, things soon get even worse for little Suzette as she finds herself in the nasty Mr Bratwurst’s class – if a pupil does anything wrong, Mr Bratwurst takes out "The Key"’ and locks said pupil in the dark, decrepit old bell tower.
So scared of mean Mr Bratwurst are Suzette’s classmates, that the mere jangling of his keys is enough to make them sit in silence for the entirety of the day. So, when Suzette commits her first crime against Mr Bratwurst’s ridiculous rules, it’s straight to the tower with her, where a sinister secret lurks in the dusty darkness. However, all is not quite as it seems and soon Suzette finds herself determined to complete what seems like an impossible mission.
Summer Hopkiss writes brilliantly and with all the humour and wit of her debut, Lilly’s Wand.However, The Skeleton Tower is perhaps a step up from her previous children’s novella purely because of its sheer charm. The characters are delightful and, with the story being set in the early eighties, there are plenty of fun pop-culture references to put a smile on the face of adults reading to their wee ones.
The story also transmits the moral of acceptance beautifully; it’s never thrown in the reader’s face and it seems likely that children will slowly come to work this theme out for themselves, rather than having it force-fed to them in the first few sentences.
Overall, a charming and humorous tale perfect for any parent or guardian wishing to share a fun story with their child.
PWT rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Jack Croxall is the author of the young adult book Tethers. For more of his reviews visit his website.