The Girl with the Glass Bird

January 1, 2016

Gr 4-7-Edie Wilson is a thoroughly unhappy child. An orphan whose grandmother has just moved to a nursing home, she is sent to live with her inattentive aunt and vicious cousins. Edie sees no escape until Cousin Charles shows up. Her aunt's brother, he's no blood relation, but he does happen to be looking for a child her exact age to go on an undercover mission to her mother's old boarding school, Knights Haddon. Her job is to befriend a young Russian aristocrat named Anastasia and determine whether the girl is being terrorized or if she is completely insane. Edie discovers the truth surrounding Anastasia is far more complicated, and dangerous, than she could possibly have imagined. Katey Sobey's narration is excellent, neatly delineating the children from the adults and somehow managing to give unique voices to all the residents of the all-girls school. VERDICT Though some of the loose threads wrap up a bit too neatly at the end of the story, most listeners will eagerly clamor for the anticipated sequel and return to the world of Knights Haddon. ["Charming without being particularly engaging": SLJ 12/14 review of the Scholastic book.]-Michaela Schied, Indian River Middle School, Philadelphia, NY

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 26, 2015
Kerr’s suspenseful British-boarding-school mystery is full of secrets, murky characters, and psychological intrigue. Ever since 11-year-old Edie’s blind grandmother, who has cared for her following her parents’ death, was forced into a nursing home, Edie has been living miserably at Folly Farm with her nasty cousins. This changes when her unpleasant uncle, godfather to Russian princess Anastasia Stolonov, plants Edie at an old-fashioned, excessively strict boarding school for girls as an undercover spy to discover who is tormenting the princess. Is Anastasia paranoid? Or simply careless? It’s sharp-eyed Edie’s assignment to find out. Despite her uncle’s warning to avoid growing close to the princess, the girls quickly bond. With several fellow students and a trio of adults as plausible suspects, an ambiance of growing mistrust permeates the novel; it’s deepened by mounting questions about the nature of the headmistress’s connection to Edie’s late mother. Set among skirmishes on the lacrosse field, forbidden midnight feasts in dormitory rooms, play rehearsals, and tea outings, the story keeps readers puzzling past its riveting climax, all the way to its gratifying conclusion. Ages 8–12.