The Witch of Turlingham Academy by Ellie Boswell

Pages - 212
Published by Atom Books in March  2012

Sophie peered round the stone pillar. She beckoned to the tall, curly-haired boy who was trying, not very successfully, to conceal himself behind the opposite pillar. 
'Come on, Callum!' she hissed. She ducked out from her hiding place and ran tiptoe down the corridor, dodging from sunlight to shadow as she passed the tall windows. Behind her, she heard a clatter and glanced round to see Callum's arm's fly out as he stumbled. 


It's not easy being the only day girl at Turlingham Academy: Sophie misses out on all the midnight feasts and late night gossip. And when new girl Katy turns up it feels like she's bewitching all of Sophie's friends! Katy's no witch, but there is a witch at Turlingham. Katy comes from a long line of witch hunters whose job is to stop evil magic. Sophie is going to help her - anything to get Katy out of her life and get things back to normal. But what she discovers means nothing will ever be normal again! 

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Oh how I adored this book! 

Now you know I am always attracted to a good witch book, so my curiosity got the better of me with this one and I knew I had to read it. I was not disappointed. 

The Witch of Turlingham is a new venture for ATOM as it is the first one they have launched in their new strand of publishing for the 8 to 12 year old market. They wanted to provide books for the tweens who were desperate to get their hands on the Twilight books but were too young to read them and I think they got it just right. 

From what I can gather, ATOM will be bringing a new witchy adventure in this series out every three months to keep the series exciting and the audience thrilled.  I think there will be a long procession of tweenies banging on the doors of Atom Towers in desperation for the next book. 

Sophie the main character, is sassy and stylish and rolling in confidence, depicting a lot of tweens I happen to know! The author really knows her target audience and I personally fell in love with Sophie from Chapter One.  The book is set in a boarding school, yet don't be expecting to find a  slice of hidden Enid Blyton in there, this school is a lot more modern; the author just brought boarding schools into the present day. 

The writing is sharp and concise, with lots of dry humour hidden within. The plot keeps you reading as you try to work out whether Sophie is in danger or not. The friendship between Sophie and Katy had a very interesting twist and I can't wait to see how that progresses. 

This is a  excellent read, not too long, so you can easily tempt the reluctant girl readers with it. I honestly can't wait for the next one. 

Well done Ellie Boswell and Atom for launching a fabulous new series for the young wannabes!