Join Stella Starflake Pearl and her three fellow explorers as they trek across the snowy Icelands and come face-to-face with frost fairies, snow queens, outlaw hideouts, unicorns, pygmy dinosaurs and carnivorous cabbages . . . Then the vulture breaks through a window in the Club and Felix springs into action, jumping onto it and getting the cuff around a leg. He's off to Witch Mountain, and of course, Stella and Ethan aren't far behind. Obwohl es bei mir nun schon wieder eine ganze Weile her ist, dass ich den ersten Teil gelesen habe, habe ich relativ schnell in die Geschichte hineingefunden. Anfangs musste ich zwar schon kurz überlegen, was genau noch mal in Band 1 passiert ist und wie das Buch geendet hat (der Cliffhanger war echt verdammt fies!), aber meine Erinnerungen war im Nu wieder aufgefrischt. The witch is probably living on Witch Mountain, from which no explorer has ever returned. So Felix works through officials channels first -- but official channels move ex-tr-em-el-y s-l-o-w-l-y and his requests for justice get bandied from one bureaucrat to another. Wovon ich auch wieder hellauf begeistert bin, ist das Setting! Die vielen fantastischen Orte, die wir zusammen mit unseren Buchhelden aufsuchen werden, werden so grandios und atemberaubend beschrieben – einfach nur klasse. Kopfkino pur, sag ich euch! Von der Hexeninsel hatte ich die tollsten Bilder im Kopf und auch davor, als wir mit Stella und ihren Freunden durch die Lüfte fliegen, war ich komplett verzaubert von der Kulisse. Was ich nur wieder ein wenig vermisste habe, ist eine Karte vorne oder hinten im Buch, die die wichtigsten Orte zeigt. Die hätte ich bei dieser Reihe irgendwie nicht schlecht gefunden. Aber dank der bildhaften Beschreibungen kann man sich, wie bereits erwähnt, natürlich auch so alles ganz genau vorstellen.

To that end she eagerly started a Law Degree only to find it so boring that she was at a very real risk of going completely insane. To mitigate this she started writing again. The second book got her an agent with Carolyn Whitaker of London Independent Books but, unfortunately, not a publisher. The third book, written during her first summer holidays off from university, found a home with Gollancz. The Ninth Circle came out in April 2008 with possibly the most beautiful cover ever created (matched only by her second book, Jasmyn). Oh, my dear one, never make decisions out of a place of fear. Nothing good ever comes from that, trust me. Our bonds of love and friendship with other people are not always as simple or as straightforward as we would like them to be, but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth it, warts and all. We must fight for our loved ones with everything that we have and, yes, sometimes that means pushing through the fear of being rejected, or looking foolish, or getting hurt, or having our hearts broken.“ Without her ice tiara she's powerless, but her guardian Felix and polar bear Gruff save the day -- and her. She makes it inside the Club and Felix won't let her out again, not until he can bring the witch that killed Stella's parents to justice. When Stella and three other junior explorers get separated from their expedition can they cross the frozen wilderness and live to tell the tale?What follows is a series of adventures on many levels. The explorers find out about this land, their new discoveries and plenty of mysteries. However, they also find out about themselves in many ways. Justice, feminism, morals – there’s a lot here for adults to and children will enjoy finding out about some serious issues while going on one brilliant adventure. It’s a good book to start many a conversation. Above all however, it’s a novel for having fun, exploring, going on one brilliant adventure and experiencing the freedom and fun that goes with that. Now she happily dwells in an entirely make-believe world of blood, death, madness, murder and mayhem. The doctors have advised that it is best not to disturb her, for she appears to be happy there. One of those casually erudite children’s books that does not treat children as kiddywinks, The Murderer’s Ape follows the saga of Sally Jones – a mechanically gifted seafarer who happens to be an ape – and her attempts to clear the name of her human friend, falsely accused of murder. Despite the beautiful illustrations, we are near the top of the age range here: parents might be asked to explain why a maharajah might have concubines, and why a sensible woman might be in love with someone who leaves her with bruises. Stella’s adoptive father, Felix, is a member of The Polar Bear Explorers’ Club, and Stella has always wanted to be an explorer as well. Technically girls aren’t allowed to join The Club, but when the chance arises to join Felix, Stella is determined to prove she can be as good an explorer as anyone.

Neither is a focus, however. A multiple prize-winning hit in Wegelius’s native Sweden, this extraordinary book acquires a passport full of stamps – Portugal, Egypt, India, Greece – as it masterfully juggles skulduggery and malaria, accordion-making and aeronautics, fado and pastries, police corruption and at least two love stories. To say anything more would spoil what is a rare treat: a book you want to thrust into the hands of children and adults alike. She soon finds herself on an expedition to find the coldest part of the Icelands. But it doesn’t go to plan, as she and her fellow junior adventurers get separated from the group and have to find their way across the Icelands together. While the Icelands is full of incredible places and creatures to discover, it’s equally full of danger. Then her friend and fellow explorer, Ethan Rook, with the Ocean Squid Explorers Club, arrives. His father has brought a magical cuff that can control the bone-eating vulture threatening Stella.Sometimes ordinary people are the most dangerous of all. Besides, people are always scared of what they don´t understand.

Ich habe leider eine ganze Weile für das Buch gebraucht, denn an den meisten Tagen habe ich fast nichts lesen können. War nach den sehr guten vorigen Lesemonaten fast zu erwarten.Es gibt einige böse Überraschungen, die sie zu überwinden haben und es mit Zusammenhalt schaffen, oder auch mit den besonderen Fähigkeiten und Stärken einzelner. Es ist ja eine sehr bunt gemischte Truppe, so verschieden dass sie sich perfekt ergänzen und man erkennt, dass gerade ihre verschiedenen Charaktere eine so tolle Mischung ergeben und es nie langweilig wird. There was nothing I wanted to change about the book; however I would like it if there was a sequel! Except it's not unoccupied, of course. Gideon Smythe, son of the leader of the Jungle Cats Explorers Club, is on board and quite cross they've stolen his Club's dirigible, not to mention failed to realize what a great Picnic Master he is. Ich rate bei dieser Reihe übrigens sehr, die chronologische Reihenfolge der Bände einzuhalten! Band 2 schließt ziemlich direkt an seinen Vorgänger an und in meinen Augen braucht man das Wissen aus dem Auftakt, um der Handlung im zweiten Teil problemlos folgen zu können. Zudem würde man sich zum ersten Band auch etwas spoilern, wenn man mit der Fortsetzung beginnt.