The Children’s Book Review | August 19, 2016
The Children’s Book Review: Which five words best describe The Voyage to Magical North?
Claire Fayers: Swashbuckling, pirates, sea monsters, librarians.
If you had to take a vacation with one of the characters from The Voyage to Magical North, who would it be? Why?
Ursula from the library at Barnard’s Reach. Because she needs to get out more, and we could go on a cruise and read a lot.
What has been the best reaction from a reader, so far?
My friends’ 12-year-old daughter, who read it in a day and pronounced it “brilliant, top marks!”
What’s on your nightstand? Any books?
There were until my cat hit them off. The Ministry of Suits by Paul Gamble; Beetle Boy by M.G. Leonard. And a notebook and pen in case I wake up with brilliant ideas. (It hasn’t happened yet, but I live in hope).
For your writing energy: sugar or salt, tea or coffee?
Salt – usually in the form of popcorn and a rotation of tea and coffee, at least one cup an hour.
Writing tools: computer, pen and paper, or all of the above?
Computer.
Can you tell us one more thing we may not know about The Voyage to Magical North, your writing style, or yourself?
I collect dinosaurs. So far, I have 3 fluffy ones, 6 made of lego and a giant carboard Tyrannosaurus rex which used to live on my piano until the vibrations shook him apart.
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Written by Claire Fayers
Publisher’s Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Brine Seaborne is a girl with a past–if only she could remember what it is. Found alone in a rowboat as a child, clutching a shard of the rare starshell needed for spell-casting, she’s spent the past years keeping house for an irritable magician and his obnoxious apprentice, Peter.
When Brine and Peter get themselves into a load of trouble and flee, they blunder into the path of the legendary pirate ship the Onion. Before you can say “pieces of eight,” they’re up to their necks in the pirates’ quest to find Magical North, a place so shrouded in secrets and myth that most people don’t even think it exists. If Brine is lucky, she’ll find her place in the world. And if she’s unlucky, everyone on the ship will be eaten by sea monsters. It could really go either way.
8-12 | Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. | 2016 | ISBN-13: 978-1627794206
Add this book to your collection: The Voyage to Magical North
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About Claire Fayers
Claire Fayers lives in South Wales with her husband and as many cats as she can get away with. The Voyage to Magical North is her first novel.
This speed interview with Claire Fayers, author of The Voyage to Magical North, was conducted by Bianca Schulze. Follow along with our content tagged with Diversity, Young Adult Fiction, Teens: Young Adults, and Speed Interview to discover more great books.