Duncan Versus the Googleys

Kate Milner's Duncan Versus the Googleys is a gloriously odd mystery for 10 year olds about a boy dumped for the summer in the strangest retirement home you've ever seen.

What happens

Duncan's parents are off to Japan to build a tree house. So Duncan is left with Great Aunt Harriet, who lives at Arthritis Hall. It's a sagging, drizzly old pile that birds come specially to poo on.

Nobody answers the door. The manager, tiny Mrs Linoleum Grunt in her bright pink suit, can't stand children. Within minutes she's tipped out his bag on the floor and confiscated Gizzmo, his robot Poo-Chi pet. And when Great Aunt Harriet finally appears, she roars at him to go away.

But something very weird is going on here. The old ladies seem to have vanished, leaving empty flats stacked with boxes. There are cameras everywhere and a helipad on the roof. And a boy from a TV advert for a strange new toy called a Googley has just stepped out of the lift.

Then there's Ursula, whose dad is the caretaker. She sleeps in a cardboard bed, moves through the walls like a ghost, and something up in the attic keeps asking her for "Juice".

And the storytelling? Very funny. The narrator chats straight to you, stops to warn you that this story is not for the faint-hearted, and has opinions about everything (parents, grandmas, even your socks). It's a proper, cheeky storyteller's voice.

Duncan and Ursula make a great pair. He's a bit naive and glued to his favourite online game. She owns almost nothing and has decided not to be scared of anything (it's getting harder). They don't hit it off straight away, mostly because Ursula can't get her words out, and that awkwardness is really well done.

There are a few gross and slightly creepy moments. A mouse gets wrapped up alive by the thing in the dark, and Ursula climbs out of a bin covered in bacon rind. It's all played for shivers and giggles, though.

If you've got a reader who likes their villains properly nasty and their heroes a bit scruffy, this is one for them.

What to read next

For another boy left with an old relative he'd rather avoid, try Gangsta Granny. Ben gets packed off to his granny's bungalow on Friday nights, and he's sure she's the most boring person on earth. Is he right?