About the Book and Author
Twelve-year-old Eli is an apprentice librarian at the largest library in the world. But when his grandmother falls ill, he enters the Glorious Race of Magical Beasts to raise money for her treatment.
This annual race is always held in the most perilous places and is full of spiky dangers. Most participants seek out unicorns and dragons to help them on their conquest. But not Eli. He embarks on this journey with his trusted pet and friend, Humphrey, his moon tortoise. Moon tortoises aren’t suited to racing and Eli is no natural adventurer. But he soon finds himself in an unlikely partnership with Raven, a rule-breaker and skilled archer, and her ice hare – one of the fastest animals in the world.
If the two children put aside their differences and work together, they might just reach the finish line!
Alex Bell has published novels and short stories for both adults and young adults including Frozen Charlotte, a Zoella Book Club pick.
The Polar Bear Explorers’ Club and the series that followed was her first foray into writing for children aged 8-12 years (also published by Faber & Faber).
Book Review
I enjoyed this book as it is full of magic
I enjoyed this book as it is full of magic and lots of wizards and mages keeping me intrigued at all times.
I liked how the author created the character Eli. He is an unusual mix of being the shyest person on earth but he has also inherited his parents’ braveness. Eli is the son of famous athletic racers (the fleets) who died in a race, resulting in him being the last mage on earth. Eli has a Nana who is unwell and he decides to enter a race to help his Nana.
The price of the race is magic, which Eli plans to sell to buy a magic ruby. The magic ruby can store Nana’s magic for longer, which means his Nana would live for longer too. After losing his parents Eli couldn’t possibly bear to lose his nana as well. Not if he had anything to do with it.
In this story Eli competes a race with his friend Jeremiah, who he had taken out of a book using his magical powers as a mage. Being a mage has its advantages!
The part that I like the most is when Eli reads a thesaurus with his Nana’s note in it saying how brave she thought he was.
This book is adventurous and has a lot of problems that they overcome together.
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Whichever you choose we hope you enjoy being part of your unique reading community – happy reading everyone!
Reviewer Profile
- Name: Erika
- Age: 12 years
- Likes: Skiing, reading and scrunchies
- Dislikes: Mushrooms and avocados
- Favourite Book: The Ickabog by J. K. Rowling
- Favourite Song: Good 4 U by Olivia Rodrigo
- Favourite Film: Spy Kids
