Climbing a Monkey Puzzle Tree

It is the 1960s, and in this sequel to the acclaimed Raspberries on the Yangtze young Nancy Cameron's cosy dreams of boarding-school life are rudely shattered by reality, when she is sent from the wilds of Canada to take up a scholarship at Woodmaston School for Girls. She thought it would be all jolly adventures and country picnics, but instead finds a claustrophobic, all-female world of petty bullying, spiteful pseudo-friendships and incomprehensible crushes. It seems that English school life is as full of sharp spines as the malignant monkey puzzle tree that looms over the school. Despite this, she manages to make friends with the precocious and wild Jenny, whose love of the new sexy fashions is outdone only by her passion for Elvis Presley, and the fragile but intriguing Caroline. However, they soon fall foul of the monstrous Sharon Downey, who rules their dormitory with a heavy, unjust hand. Life is pretty miserable for the first few days, especially as the inaptly named Nurse Blessed seems to take an instant dislike to Nancy and uses the slightest excuse to scold or punish her. Luckily, Nancy soon discovers that her extraordinary gift for story-telling can make life considerably easier for her, at least amongst the girls, and soon even Sharon is listening eagerly to her Sheherazade-like tales, which feature each girl in turn as the starring role. Caroline is eager to hear tales of her older brother Robert, and as Nancy weaves epic adventures for him every night she herself becomes increasingly bewitched with the heroic character she is creating. But as she settles in and even becomes uneasy friends with Sharon, dark undercurrents begin to make Nancy feel that she is, for some reason, being singled out for persecution. Matters come to a head when she is falsely accused of theft and several startling truths come to light. Karen Wallace writes with humour and insight, building her narrative up to a dramatic and thrilling conclusion and keeping the reader glued to the text throughout. Ages 10+ (Kirkus UK)