The Thames and Tide Club: The Secret City

Katya Balen's The Thames and Tide Club: The Secret City is a funny, magical adventure for 8 year olds that starts on a muddy riverbank and goes all the way down to the bottom of the Thames.

What happens

Every Saturday, Clem and her neighbours from Elm Estate go mudlarking. That means hunting along the river's edge for whatever the water has washed up. Clay pipes. Old bottles. A glass eye (Mr Zafar stuck his on his front door so he can see what's going on).

Clem has eagle eyes. Her friend Ash shouts everything and mostly finds rubbish. His sister Zara loves facts and keeps her boots perfectly clean.

One stormy Saturday, Clem drops a funny tangled loop of metal into her bucket. Then London starts cracking up. Tower Bridge sways, drains bubble, and the floor of Mr Kostas's bakery splits open and fills with fishy water. Soon their own block of flats is being evacuated.

And the loop in Clem's bucket is rattling and glowing gold.

Oswald, who runs the odd little mudlarking museum (and has a pet iguana in a sailor's hat), says it has to go back to the river. He hands the three of them some very smelly wetsuits. They are very much not wetsuits.

It's such a joy to read. The jokes come thick and fast, and London under the water is packed with puns. There's a department store called Shellfridges and a toe-sized snail who thinks he's terrifying. Ash, Zara and Clem bicker like real friends and look after each other like real friends too.

Underneath all the silliness there's something lovely about home. Mr Zafar hands round his halva, everyone knocks on everyone's door on the way to the river, and Clem can't bear the thought of them all being split up if Elm Estate falls down.

If your reader fills their pockets with interesting stones and bits of sea glass, they'll feel right at home with Clem. Who wouldn't want a Saturday club for treasure hunting?

What to read next

For another girl who finds magic hiding in London, try The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant. It opens on a sadder note, with news that Cordelia's father's ship has gone down in a storm.