The Girl in the Mirror by Jenny Blackford,
illustrated by Fiona McDonald (Eagle Books) October 2019, PB, RRP $17.99, 153 pp,
ISBN 9780648194521
Reviewed by Karen Henriks
Maddy
moves to a creepy new house and starts at new school. Newcomers are not welcome
and Maddy is given a hard time, so school becomes the last place that she wants
to be. Her new home is old and full of secrets from the past. It has a coldness
and unexplained presence that creates darkness. Maddy’s bedroom becomes her
refuge but there is no real peace even there. In the old mirror in her bedroom
Maddy finds her first real friend, Clarissa. There is only one problem: they
are 100 years apart in time.
Clarissa
lives in the very same house as Maddy. She is the girl in the mirror in Maddy’s
bedroom and is from the 1890’s. Clarissa’s younger brother Bertie, who died
from whooping cough, haunts the stairs in the house in each time space. The friendship
helps both girls deal with frightening situations in the their respective homes.
The sinister character in the story is Clarissa’s Aunt Lily who is also a
frightening presence in Maddy’s world.
There
is a mystery to be solved and lives to be saved and an evil force to be overcome.
This time-shifting tale hooks the reader into the mystery with its clever
storytelling. The reader wants to join the girls in their quest to remove the
evil that lurks in the shadows of both their lives. Maddy tackles the girls at
school and makes friends with Gareth but worries time is running out to save
her baby brother Cory who has become ill since moving into the house. The only
person she can turn to is Clarissa.
Meanwhile,
Clarissa’s mother’s health is in serious decline and widowed Aunt Lily seems to
control everything and everyone in the house. Her strengthening tonic made from
plants in the garden seems to not be working. The two girls must use all their
intelligence and work together. But will they succeed?
This
is a gripping middle grade novel that is an original and captivating read.
