I feel like the author has to have a special talent to appeal and cater for its intended child audience and then the adult audience also, whether the adult is reading it for fun in their own time or reading it to their child.

i am happy i read it an so glad i finally am reading more middle grade and it was pretty well done overall. The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here. I liked the idea of a postal train that delivers packages to many fantasy places, but I was expecting something different. Find out about the latest book in the 'Girl, Missing' series, Secret Sister, in this short video by author Sophie McKenzie.and I can really see where they are coming from (Although I think I would be more apt to describe it as a Charlie and The Chocolate Factory/Alice In Wonderland mishmash myself). Nothing too complicated or weird, nothing too unexpected and keeping you on the edge of your seat (or comfy reading nook), not too long not too short. It’s not long before she’s been deputized as a Postal Operative (by the troll in charge), which in turn embroils her in an even bigger adventure, and one of those magical good versus evil power struggles that are central to all the best fantasy adventures.

Suzy has a brilliant scientific mind, but isn't really one for thinking about consequences – she tends more towards jumping now and thinking later, though her heart is definitely in the right place. Suzy Smith is very surprised when a huge magical train takes a shortcut through her downstairs hallway one evening.Objectively, this had all if the ingredients for a great story, but I couldn’t really connect with it. I found it funny when Suzy did her physics homework; as when her mum and dad told her to have a break she wouldn't and it said she had finished a hour ago but she just filled the pages up with questions. Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, the Branford Boase Award and the IBW Book Awards, with dazzling illustrations from Flavia Sorrentino, this is an imaginative adventure series for readers aged 7+!

I love reading middle grade books as an adult but can't help but feel disappointed when there is not a lot of adult humour within it. I love Suzy’s scientific curiosity; her drive to find out and make sense of this new world is irresistible. This is such a fun and light-hearted book which I think is aimed at an audience of all ages for different reasons. And there is a teachers resource to accompany this book to help with lesson plans and ideas to help explore the story further - download here. Suzy finds herself visiting worlds she never knew existed and encountering all kinds of people, some good, some bad and some - yet to be decided upon.In some areas, I really want to give this book at least a three star rating because of how magical and unique the storyline was. With each one I came across I feel like it just got better and better, honestly they were so good and definitely added to my reading experience. Suzy jumps on the train and she's off on an adventure to deliver packages to all kinds of impossible places. They use a series of ‘Top Tips’ from Postmaster and resident letter-writing expert, Wilmot Grunt, to encourage readers to interrogate the components of a successful letter. Suzy is a normal, hardworking school girl who realizes that something isn't right, she hears something downstairs in the middle of the night and finds something unusual.

A talking snow globe, Frederick has information Crepuscula could use to take over the entire Union of Impossible Places. The bear was funny, the conductor was great and the postal worker I fell in love with and poor Fletch. I like that Suzy can hold her ground when she was arguing with the troll and when she took the snow globe from Lady Crepsucular because someone was trapped in it.we’ll see how it continues and i hope the author will start to focus more on one plot point instead of too many again. Overall, as I said, it was okay: the fantasy elements were fun, I liked the main character and Wilmot was just adorable; the setting and the general plot were good enough, but nothing extraordinary. It’s not every day that a magical train drives through your hallway but that’s what happens to Suzy at the opening of this terrific adventure story. There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). There's a lot of confusion with the lack of explanations/being thrown into the middle of a magical world but I think it actually leant itself well.