Shadows of Winterspell

Amy Wilson's Shadows of Winterspell is a magical story for 10 year olds about a lonely fae girl who goes to school for the very first time, against her ghost nan's wishes.

What happens

Stella lives in an old house on the edge of Winterspell Forest. She's been brought up by her nan, who's been a ghost since before Stella was born, and Peg, a fussy little imp who's usually a red bird (or sometimes a golden lizard). Stella's fae, but Nan's spell makes her look human. She doesn't even know what she'd really look like without it!

Her days are chores, spell books and keeping up the magical boundary that holds the forest's shadows back. It's a cosy life. It's also a very, very lonely one. So Stella does something she's never done before. She picks up the phone and signs herself up for the local school.

Broadmere Academy isn't quite the ordinary human school she was hoping for. There's a shimmering staircase hung with charms just like the ones at home. There's Yanny, a scruffy boy who takes her round and seems to have forest magic hanging about him. And there's Zara, who lines all her stationery up on the desk and pushes it into the middle so Stella can share.

It's lovely being in Stella's head for all this. She's nervous and brave and funny all at once. Her first day is loud and hot and bewildering, and she still comes home grinning because she made friends. Anyone who's ever started somewhere new will recognise that fizzy mix of terror and hope.

Nan's reaction when she finds out is brilliant too. She billows out of the chimney in a great dark cloud of worry! Their row about school feels like a very real family argument (just with more magic).

It's worth saying there's sadness under the sparkle. Stella's mum died of a fae plague when Stella was small, her dad was lost to grief, and Nan is slowly fading. It's handled gently, but a reader who's lost someone might feel it.

Got a reader who loves magic tangled up with everyday school life? This one's a real treat.

What to read next

For more from the same author, A Far Away Magic has another new kid who can see magic nobody else notices, and a strange, awkward boy who's trying very hard to stay invisible.