The House on the Edge

Alex Cotter's The House on the Edge is a gripping cliff-top mystery for 10 year olds about a girl trying to hold her whole family together on her own.

What happens

Faith lives in The Lookout, a tall old house teetering right at the edge of a crumbling cliff. Her dad walked out four months ago without even saying goodbye. Her mum hardly gets out of bed. So Faith does the lot (the shopping, the packed lunches, the tea and toast upstairs every morning).

Then a crack opens up in the back garden overnight. It's three metres long, and it's getting bigger.

Her little brother Noah isn't helping. He creeps down to the cellar every night because he says a sea ghost lives there, one who's looking for lost treasure. His drawings of ghostly faces are giving other children at school nightmares. Faith is having none of it. Ghosts aren't real, and those noises are just an old house by the sea. Aren't they?

Everyone else seems to want something from them too. Noah's frosty teacher wants a word with Mum. Uncle Art turns up in his shiny BMW asking about hidden money and threatening to call the council. So Faith tells one big fat lie to keep them all away, and it doesn't go to plan.

Being inside Faith's head is super tense. She can tell you exactly how long Dad's been gone. She tiptoes up the stairs as if the house might break under her. She's snappy and bossy, and underneath it all she's very, very scared. You'll probably want to give her a hug.

There's warmth too. Sam, a scruffy boy in a blue parka who smells of the sea, has a laugh Faith can't quite ignore. And the house has its own family story, including an old clock nobody has opened for centuries.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

Faith's mum is struggling badly. She cries in the bathroom, wears the same pyjamas for weeks and leaves Faith doing all the looking after. It's written gently and honestly, but a reader whose own parent has had low times might find it close to home. For others it could open up a good conversation.

What to read next

If they love a spooky family mystery by the water, try The Mermaid Call next. It's another Alex Cotter story, this time about Vivien, whose town lives for its mermaid legend and whose mum is finally coming home.