The Girl with the Glass Bird

Katey Sobey's performance of this mystery debut brims with British propriety and decorum. Edie needs to escape from life with her cruel cousins, and her Uncle Charles needs to discover why the daughter of his friend, the Russian Prince Stolonov, is under duress from school bullying. Edie enrolls at Knight's Haddon boarding school to befriend Anastasia and to spy. Sobey delineates nicely between Edie's schoolmates--the high spirited Sally, who hardly pauses for breath while talking nonstop; the ever polite and tremulous Anastasia, whose voice barely registers above a whisper; and the confident, contemptuous Phoebe. Everyone has a secret at Knight's Haddon, and Sobey reveals each with aplomb while setting the stage for the next title in this mystery series. M.F.T. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

January 1, 2016

Gr 4-7-Edie Wilson is a thoroughly unhappy child. An orphan whose grandmother has just moved to a nursing home, she is sent to live with her inattentive aunt and vicious cousins. Edie sees no escape until Cousin Charles shows up. Her aunt's brother, he's no blood relation, but he does happen to be looking for a child her exact age to go on an undercover mission to her mother's old boarding school, Knights Haddon. Her job is to befriend a young Russian aristocrat named Anastasia and determine whether the girl is being terrorized or if she is completely insane. Edie discovers the truth surrounding Anastasia is far more complicated, and dangerous, than she could possibly have imagined. Katey Sobey's narration is excellent, neatly delineating the children from the adults and somehow managing to give unique voices to all the residents of the all-girls school. VERDICT Though some of the loose threads wrap up a bit too neatly at the end of the story, most listeners will eagerly clamor for the anticipated sequel and return to the world of Knights Haddon. ["Charming without being particularly engaging": SLJ 12/14 review of the Scholastic book.]-Michaela Schied, Indian River Middle School, Philadelphia, NY

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