Unicorn Academy 18 – Evie and Sunshine

Julie Sykes' Evie and Sunshine is a treasure-hunting Unicorn Academy story for 7 year olds about a clever, clumsy girl who's sure her unicorn is embarrassed by her.

What happens

Evie is the bookworm of Ruby dorm. She's great at science and maths and she knows the riddle on the girls' treasure map off by heart. She also trips over bags, knocks over water bottles and goes bright red when her friends tease her (Sienna calls her a clumsy doughnut).

What really worries her is Sunshine. Her pretty, elegant unicorn hates being the centre of attention. After Evie falls out of an apple tree in an obstacle race, Sunshine says that next time they should just watch. Evie decides Sunshine must wish she'd been paired with somebody else.

Is that really what's going on? Your reader will probably spot the clues before Evie does! Things have started going BANG whenever Sunshine is about. A hay net bursts. A bucket of sky berries explodes. And Sunshine is very keen to change the subject.

Then there's the treasure. This is book 18 in the series and Ruby dorm's hunt is already under way, so the girls start with two pieces of an old map that was cut into four.

The new riddle talks about a folly kept safe by phantoms. What IS a folly? Evie heads to the library to find out. The answer is a crumbling tower in a dark little wood, and the stories say it's haunted.

There's also Dr Briar, a famous archaeologist who's all smiles and suddenly VERY interested in whatever Evie is reading. The girls don't trust her one bit.

It does get a little spooky. There's an eerie "whoooo" in the trees and a secret ride out at midnight. The girls have each other and a big torch, but a reader who doesn't like the dark might want company for those chapters.

The loveliest thing is how Evie's friends are with her. When she owns up to a mistake, nobody's cross. They point out that she only found the secret buttons by falling over (a very special talent, they tell her).

If you've got a reader who's the clever one but hangs back when the teams are picked, Evie will mean a lot to them.

What to read next

For a unicorn who's forever knocking things over, try Ava and Star from much earlier in the series. Ava knows every plant going and still worries she isn't clever enough to help her unicorn find her magic.