Alison Reads

Book-loving David’s mother dies when he is 12, his father remarries and they go to live in an old house in the country belonging to his stepmother. David soon has a little half-brother and has understandable feelings of anger, resentment and betrayal. He spends most of his time in his room reading old storybooks. One day he steps through a gap in the garden wall and is in another place, which he discovers is populated by fairy-tale characters from his own world, especially the evil ones. Masterfully told, quite dark and not for children, the book details David’s journey to meet the king and a way back to his own world (shades of Oz) while battling wolf-human hybrids and many other dangers. Highly recommended.