One of our Books of the Year 2015 Alexander McCall Smith has taken the ever-popular set up for a proper children’s story – group of plucky kids, no parents – and added to the scope for adventure tenfold by setting it on a tall ship. Twins Ben and Fee have grown up on a submarine because their parents are marine scientists. Now, nearly 13, it’s time they went to school and they are enrolled at a very unusual one: the School Ship Tobermory. They’ve only just begun to learn the ropes when they and their new friends spot some suspicious activity on board another ship supposedly being used in a film. The story is great fun, with some real suspense, and the descriptions of life afloat make it sound very tempting indeed: readers will agree with Ben when he decides that there’s nothing better than being at sea with friends, the empty sky above you and the wind in your hair. ~ Andrea Reece
Follow the exploits of the children who go to a most unusual school - the sail-powered training ship Tobermory. When a film crew arrives in Tobermory Bay, Ben and Fee are invited to be extras. But their suspicions are soon aroused - is the film crew genuine, or are they up to something sinister? Ben and Fee soon discover the truth when they uncover a dastardly plan masterminded by a South American businessman...