The Rescue Princesses 9 – The Silver Locket

Paula Harrison's The Silver Locket is a Rescue Princesses mystery for 7 year olds about a princess who's certain an old note will lead her to a lost book of ninja moves.

What happens

Princess Rosalind loves a mystery. Ever since her last adventure she's worn a silver locket with a tiny key hidden inside, and she's desperate to know what it opens.

Now the four Rescue Princesses are together again. Rosalind, Lottie, Amina and Isabella are staying at Mr Periwinkle's enormous red-brick house for an Autumn Ball (he's the man who invented the Chocorama Crunch).

When Rosalind spots an eagle over the mountains, she's sure they're in the right place. But the only clue in the note is "spend time looking". Can your reader work it out before the girls do?

There's a puppy too. Patch has floppy ears and a dark patch over one eye, and the girls are trusted to take him into the garden for his very first time outside. Then a ball goes flying, a rake topples over and Patch bolts.

This is the part plenty of children will recognise. Rosalind gets a bit bossy when she's worried. She says the wrong thing to Isabella, Lottie tells her off, and suddenly she's searching on her own. And Lottie keeps calling her Rosy, which she HATES.

It's a very real look at how a falling-out between friends feels. Rosalind didn't mean it to come out like that, and you really feel how much better things are once she says sorry.

Then two burglars turn up on a ladder below the clock tower, pockets stuffed with jewellery. When Patch barks at them, they take him as well. So it's time for ninja moves, including a wolf howl in the woods that turns out to be very useful indeed.

It's worth knowing that the thieves are rough with Patch. One grabs him and shoves him under his coat, and later he's tied up in an old barn, whimpering. If your reader gets upset when an animal is frightened, those pages might need you close by. For most children they're the exciting bit.

This is the ninth Rescue Princesses book, but the locket and the note are explained as you go, so it works fine on its own.

What to read next

If they'd like to see how it all began, try The Secret Promise. It's the story of Lottie's big sister Emily, who sneaks out at night, meets three other princesses and hears a young deer crying in the forest. One of them even has a glowing emerald bracelet like the one Lottie brings along here.