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Pages & Co: Tilly and the Map of Stories - Anna James

Strange things are happening. A man comes into Pages & Co looking for a book… then suddenly can’t remember it. Tilly and her family feel like the world is changing – but can’t quite put their finger on why. Meanwhile, the Underwoods are expanding their control over bookwandering – and they still have their sights set on Tilly. Leaving the safety of the bookshop, Tilly heads to America to find the legendary Archivists and save bookwandering…

… or at least, that’s the plan. Wandering in layers of story, Tilly and her friend Oskar come up against dangers they could never have expected, team up with an unexpectedly familiar face, and ultimately find themselves taking on the biggest threat to stories there has ever been – with only their courage and ingenuity to help them. As well as some of their dearest fictional friends…

I was in a bit of a book slump until I picked up the latest Pages & Co instalment and it instantly reminded me just why I love reading and all things books. Tilly and the Map of Stories is the third in the series of bookwandering adventures (an amazing imaginative power that allows Tilly and her best friend Oskar to actually go inside their favourite novels and wander amongst their characters) and it certainly has the same excitement and magic that the previous two books offered. 

In Tilly and the Map of Stories book wandering goes global, as Tilly, afraid of the power that the evil Underwoods are displaying as they try to clamp down on bookwandering, flies off to America on a secret mission to find the mysterious Archivists who she hopes will be able to help her. Although they've flown off without her grandparent's permission, the pair are soon met by the friendly faces of American bookshop owners, Jorge and Orlando, who immediately throw the pair into a frenzy of action, fear-filled chases and of course, bookwandering! 

As the third in the series and the last of this particular story arc, there was always the worry in the back of my mind that it would never live up to the excitement that the previous two offered, but Anna James proves that there is still so much more of the bookwandering universe to explore and Tilly and the Map of Stories truly is filled with action throughout. My favourite addition had to be the Sesquipedalian - a magical book-filled train that even includes a restaurant serving the finest of literature's food, from the Famous Five's delicious picnics to Turkish delight straight from the pages of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. It is this level of commitment to well-loved books that really sets this series apart for me. Anna James proves in every page just how much she loves books, with her constant references to characters throughout famous literature - and of course there is an extremely comical appearance from a VERY famous writer in this book, which I won't spoil but it brought me great joy as I know it will do for so many other readers. 

Anna James effortlessly weaves the world of literature into our own familiar surroundings, and just like the first and second book she takes the reader on an incredible journey that so many literature loves would love to come to fruition. I can't wait to see what the Pages & Co universe has in store next!

A literature-filled jaunt through familiar landscapes as Tilly and Oskar defend the book universe once more!

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