Ross Montgomery’s The Chime Seekers is a spooky faerie adventure for 11 year olds about a boy who says the worst thing he possibly could, and is taken at his word.<\/p>\n
Yanni hates the new house. It sits all alone in the flat, empty fields of Fallow Hall, its front door is the colour of a rotten tooth, and he’s got the worst bedroom. They only moved because of Ari, his baby sister, who screams more or less all the time.<\/p>\n
Mum and Dad are exhausted and snappy. Nobody asks Yanni what he wants. And on Halloween, when they head out for their anniversary dinner and leave him with his awkward second cousin Amy, it all boils over. Standing by Ari’s cot, he tells her he wishes she’d never been born.<\/p>\n
That’s when the tall, beautiful stranger in the wine-coloured jacket appears in the doorway. He’s ever so charming. And he’d very much like to take the baby off Yanni’s hands.<\/p>\n
The creepiness is SO good. The stranger’s flattery is so smooth you can feel Yanni being pulled under, while a small voice in his head screams at him to get the man out. There are ravens, a grassy burial mound that makes his ears ring with far-off bells, and an old lady in the church with a long list of the village’s bad luck.<\/p>\n
But the heart of it is how Yanni feels about Ari, and it’s very honest. He’s jealous. He misses being the only one. He misses his Yiayia and Pappou and the long summers in Greece. Plenty of big brothers and sisters will quietly recognise some of this (even if they’d never admit it).<\/p>\n
Amy is great, too. She’s shy and mumbly until she gets going about her favourite board game, or about the rowan garland she’s made to keep faeries away from the door.<\/p>\n
It’s scary, so pick your moment. A baby is stolen and swapped for a changeling. Mum and Dad row, loudly. And Yanni says some genuinely hateful things to his sleeping sister. A child who’s anxious about a new baby at home might find that hard. A reader who loves a proper shiver will race through it.<\/p>\n
For more from Ross Montgomery where old stories come to life and a boy has to reach his sister, try The Midnight Guardians. Col is miserable as a wartime evacuee until the imaginary friends from his childhood turn up for real.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ross Montgomery’s The Chime Seekers is a spooky faerie adventure for 11 year olds about a boy who says the worst thing he possibly could, and is taken at his word. Yanni hates the new house. It sits all alone in the flat, empty fields of Fallow Hall, its front door is the colour of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13126,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"lr_next_read_post_id":9237,"lr_next_read_anchor":"The Midnight Guardians","lr_seo_hook":"A charming faerie at the cot and a boy who wished his baby sister away."},"book_tag":[1047],"age_group":[28],"book_type":[1044],"book_author":[859],"class_list":["post-8923","our-books","type-our-books","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","book_tag-magic-books","age_group-books-for-11-year-olds","book_type-paid","book_author-ross-montgomery"],"yoast_title":"The Chime Seekers by Ross Montgomery | Little Reads","yoast_metadesc":"A charming faerie at the cot and a boy who wished his baby sister away. For ages 11+. 3,000+ books in the Little Reads app. 7-day free trial.","acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n