Strange Star - Emma Carroll

Switzerland, 1816. On a stormy summer night, Lord Byron and his guests are gathered round the fire. Felix, their serving boy, can't wait to hear their creepy tales. Yet real life is about to take a chilling turn- more chilling than any tale. Frantic pounding at the front door reveals a stranger, a girl covered in the most unusual scars. She claims to be looking for her sister, supposedly snatched from England by a woman called Mary Shelley. Someone else has followed her here too, she says. And the girl is terrified.

I am a big Emma Carroll fan having read quite a few of her books, and they are perfect examples of making history come alive in fiction for children. Strange Star landed in my classroom after a trip to the library van and on the recommendation of an avid reader in my class I picked it up and devoured it.

Strange Star was inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, something that I didn't realise until reading the first chapter and then I had to do a quick Google about the background of the book. Now Frankenstein is one of my absolute favourite classics, despite having studied it to death (pardon the pun) at A Level and then during my Literature degree, I still love it so you can imagine my excitement upon finding this story's connection.

Lizzie Appleby is our main narrator, a girl who simultaneously lost her sight and her mother thanks to a strike of lightning. The story explores the strange events at the nearby Eden Court, where a rich scientist has taken residence, complete with odd deliveries, unusual noises and things that go bump in the night. Lizzie is determined to find out what is going on in the grand house but when the scientist begins to take a close interest in her family events take a chilling turn.

As always, Carroll's attention to historical detail is perfect and through the wounded eyes of Lizzie you can imagine what life must have been like beneath the shadows of the grand Eden Court. There are many twists and turns throughout and the combination of present and past narration helps to bring the characters' stories together in the final chapters.

This is definitely a book for the slightly older primary reader, although a tough Year 4 could definitely handle it and it's the perfect introduction to the tale of Frankenstein. This would also be a great one to link in with science topics such as Electricity or just for a spooky read.

A historical read which challenges stereotypes and questions the morals behind science.

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