FIRST TERM AT FERNSIDE
The O'Brien Press, 2024
Robin can’t wait to be back at Fernside boarding school. But for her younger cousin Linnet the first term at Fernside is a bit of a nightmare. And she needs Robin’s help with every little thing.
When the adorable puppy Rudy disappears, can the girls stay out of trouble long enough to solve the mystery?
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"A joy from first to last, with all the best-loved features of Blyton's school stories – dorm japes and fearsome matrons – but a refreshingly modern sensibility and diverse cast, all whilst managing to remain historically faithful. I think readers will delight in chaotic Linnet's literal; interpretations and accidental bravado, and warm to kindhearted Robin as she warms to her cousin Linnet in turn. An instant classic." Joanna Nadin
"A real page-turner that reads like a classic boarding school story, but written from a contemporary point of view. The characters are very well drawn, and the girls' individual personalities and secret tragedies bring each one to unforgettable life. The loneliness as well as the fun of being at boarding school is so realistic, and the way the girls pull together as a team is heart-warming. Readers will no doubt find themselves completely believing in the world that Sheena Wilkinson conjures up, and being as unwilling to leave it as the girls are to leave Fernside at the end of their first term." Leila Rasheed
"With a curriculum covering everything from buttery toast, cute pets and team sports, to daring escapades, forging friendships and boarding-school rules that are made to be broken, First Term at Fernside is a book every young reader should smuggle into their back-pack. Top marks for a terrific and masterfully-written boarding-school adventure about friendship, empathy and bravery."
Eve McDonnell