Beatrice Bloom and the Star Crystal

Estelle Grace Tudor's Beatrice Bloom and the Star Crystal is a fairy-world adventure for 9 year olds about a girl who's frightened of her own magic.

What happens

Beatrice is twelve. She's spending Christmas at Castle Bloom, up on the clifftops, with her twin sister Martha and a whole houseful of Blooms. There are horses in the stables, mince pies by the fire and snow coming down.

Then a tiny golden scroll turns up outside the Fairy Door in the attic. It's a wedding invitation! Princess Evony is marrying Soren, and the entire family is invited, grandmother and great-aunt included.

The children have been through that door before. Beatrice remembers it well, and not all of it fondly. The night before, she's sure she sees her unicorn friend Caeruleus in the fire, being chased by a dark rider.

The early chapters are pure sparkle. A fairy waves her wand and everyone's clothes turn into ball gowns. There's a crystal sleigh pulled by golden unicorns and a tree lit up by butterflies holding tiny lights. Beatrice's dress comes out covered in blue flames, and nobody can explain why.

Then the ceremony goes horribly wrong. Lord Riad rides in on a black unicorn with an army of fire imps. He says the princess was promised to him years ago, and he carries her off to his castle.

Beatrice doesn't stop to think. She climbs onto Caeruleus and gallops after them, with Martha and her cousin Felicity close behind.

From there it turns into a rescue mission. There's a grumpy beaver with a raft and an old mage living in a cave, and he tells Beatrice she has real power. She's terrified of using it. Will she be brave enough to try?

That fear is what makes her so easy to root for. She shakes, she wobbles, she hugs her sister, and then she does it anyway.

There's a BIG family cast here, plus a talking animal for most of them, so it helps if your reader has met the Blooms before. It's full of description, gowns and unicorns, with a dash of romance that the younger cousins groan at.

What to read next

If you'd like to go back to where the fairy door was first found, Octavia Bloom and the Missing Key starts with a game of hide-and-seek in that same attic.