The Girl with the Glass Bird

January 26, 2015
Kerr’s suspenseful British-boarding-school mystery is full of secrets, murky characters, and psychological intrigue. Ever since 11-year-old Edie’s blind grandmother, who has cared for her following her parents’ death, was forced into a nursing home, Edie has been living miserably at Folly Farm with her nasty cousins. This changes when her unpleasant uncle, godfather to Russian princess Anastasia Stolonov, plants Edie at an old-fashioned, excessively strict boarding school for girls as an undercover spy to discover who is tormenting the princess. Is Anastasia paranoid? Or simply careless? It’s sharp-eyed Edie’s assignment to find out. Despite her uncle’s warning to avoid growing close to the princess, the girls quickly bond. With several fellow students and a trio of adults as plausible suspects, an ambiance of growing mistrust permeates the novel; it’s deepened by mounting questions about the nature of the headmistress’s connection to Edie’s late mother. Set among skirmishes on the lacrosse field, forbidden midnight feasts in dormitory rooms, play rehearsals, and tea outings, the story keeps readers puzzling past its riveting climax, all the way to its gratifying conclusion. Ages 8–12.

December 15, 2014
After watching her vicious cousin kill her pet goldfish-and cook it!-orphan Edie is more than willing to be sent to a girls' boarding school to act as a spy.Anastasia, a wealthy Russian princess (but not the famous one), is either being ruthlessly harassed or she's melodramatically creating a series of situations in which she appears to be the victim. Her father wants to know which, and embedding Edie at the school seems like the perfect way to find out. But the challenges are nearly insurmountable in this atmospheric mystery. Portentous clues abound, and Edie is forced to re-evaluate her first guess that an angry student is responsible for Anastasia's woes. She becomes increasingly suspicious of staff members, and each adult's actions begin to take on plausible second meanings. With no responsible person to trust, tension swiftly ratchets upward. A strong British flavor pervades the tale, but many American readers will be familiar with the language and ideas from other imports. The third-person narration effectively conveys both Edie's spunky attitude and her sense of isolation; Anastasia is less well-developed, but leaving her a bit inscrutable serves to enhance the mystery. A secondary plotline that emerges-an uncertain connection between the headmistress and Edie's mother-adds enticing red herrings. A fine mystery that will keep readers engaged until the final, scary reveal-and leave them eager for the next volume in the series. (Mystery. 11-14)

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December 1, 2014

Gr 4-6-Orphan Edie Wilson has been taken from her aging grandmother and sent to live with a negligent aunt and abusive cousins. When her mysterious and somewhat shady Cousin Charles offers her an opportunity to escape to an unusual boarding school, she jumps on it, even though it comes with some odd conditions. Cousin Charles works for an old-fashioned Russian aristocrat who fears his daughter is being bullied at school. Edie's task? Befriend and defend the Prince Stolonov's daughter, Anastasia-all while undercover. Befriending Anastasia is easy, and the two girls are soon close. Navigating King's Haddon boarding school, where the daughters of the wealthy live a throwback existence without access to phones or the internet, is more complicated, and Edie's loyalties are tested as she tries to find out what's really going on and whom she can possibly trust. Why does Anastasia keep losing her belongings, only to have them turn up hours later? Is she being gaslighted? And why does the kind, warm, and controlling headmistress of King's Haddon seem to know so much about Edie? In this self-consciously old-fashioned boarding school mystery, Kerr uses the frame of King's Haddon's strict rules to support the conventions of a thin plot, accented with pleasing nostalgic detail while maintaining a modern setting. The novel touches briefly on class issues but doesn't address them in a deep or meaningful way. Overall, the story is charming without being particularly engaging, reminiscent of Julie Andrews Edwards's Mandy (HarperCollins, 1990).-Katya Schapiro, Brooklyn Public Library

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2015
Grades 3-6 When orphaned Edie meets her distant cousin Charles, she's been living with her aunt and horrible cousins. So when Charles offers to hire her to spy on a Russian prince's daughter, Anastasia, at Knight's Haddon boarding school, she hastily agrees. Watching over Anastasia is harder than she expects, however, because, even though she is desperate to go to school, Knight's Haddon is far stricter than Edie hoped. The teachers are secretive and harsh, and Edie's role as servant and secret spy means she can't get involved with the other girls and activities. She is there to find out what's been troubling Anastasia, and as she investigates their fellow students, the mystery gets incredibly twisty. Is Anastasia crazy, or is there more to Knight's Haddon than it appears? Kerr's quaint style at times feels more like historical fiction, so some readers may find the modern setting a bit jarring. Nevertheless, this is a rich, fun mystery that will likely hook young readers. Fans of Edie will be happy to know a sequel is in the works.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)