World of Wanda

LoveReading4Kids Says

12-year-old Wanda doesn’t go to school. Instead, she travels round Europe with her mum staying on campsites and at hostels, making friends with other travellers from all over the world and learning to say hello in multiple languages. Young readers might think that sounds like heaven, but Wanda dreams of settling in one place, and a normal life; at school, she might even get her ADHD diagnosed.

When a series of accidents presents her with a chance to travel back to England without her mum, and find the dad she’s never met, Wanda jumps at it. Her discovery of a new family, her struggles to fit in and all she learns in the process make compelling reading.

As the narrative splits between Wanda and her new step-sister Margot, we come to know both girls as kind, well-intentioned young people, often tripped up by their impulsiveness, but finding their way in the end.

Karen McCombie is an expert at bringing us the world as understood by adolescent girls, endlessly fascinating subjects of fiction, and if this story occasionally loses its way, it’s still a book full of genuine emotions and growth and one that brings us living, breathing, convincing central characters.

Andrea Reece

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