Ok, I’ll admit it.
When my daughter brought this home from the school library, I snaffled it. I mean, I let her read it first, obviously. I had fond memories of reading Ibbotson’s ‘Journey to the River Sea’ when I was teaching English and, when my daughter read the first few pages aloud to me, I knew I wanted to discover the rest of this enchanting story.
What’s it about?
Platform 13 may appear quiet and disused, but every 9 years a secret passageway opens there and allows travel between King’s Cross, London and The Island, a beautiful land filled with magical creatures, for 9 days only. Last time it opened, a tragedy occurred: the King and Queen of the Island lost their beloved only child, a son, to a greedy, selfish London couple.
Being a spectre suited her: her legs had been dreadful when she was alive—all swollen and sore from scrubbing floors all day, and she never got over feeling as free and light as air.
The islanders wait 9 long years for the passageway to reopen, as the nurses wail and the Queen sobs, but finally a team is assembled to retrieve the child: an ogre, a hag, a wizard and a fey. Unfortunately, the boy has grown up to be spoilt and selfish. Can the magical team persuade him to give up his pampered life to enjoy the simplicity of The Island?
What’s it like?
Wonderfully conceived and crafted, ‘The Secret of Platform 13’ is enjoyable from start to finish. As an adult reading a children’s book, I could anticipate immediately how the story would end, and I was delighted by that ending. Ibbotson has no time for bad manners and Raymond Trotter is clearly unsuitable to ever rule The Island, but it’s great fun seeing the magical characters use ever more creative methods to seek to persuade him.
Final thoughts
From the first mention of the mist-makers (animals who love song and create mist) and introduction of Odge Gribble, the hag, (‘She was a very young one, and a disappointment to her parents.’) I was hooked on this tale of mermaids, magic and mayhem. Raymond is thoroughly horrid and Ben is wonderfully good, while Odge is delightfully mischievous and controls herself very well, considering the provocations offered by Raymond!
A lovely, fantastical adventure for tweens – and adults!