INGO
by Helen Dunmore
(Harper Collins £12.99)

What is it all about?

Sapphire and her big brother Conor live an idyllic seaside existence with their parents in Cornwall. One day their father goes out in his boat and doesn’t return. Eventually, their mother accepts that he must be dead, but the children refuse to believe it: “We’d know if he was drowned.We’d feel it.” Following her brother to their special cove one day, Sapphire discovers Ingo, a magical underwater kingdom beyond her wildest dreams. Could this dangerous and exciting “Mer” world be connected to their father’s disappearance?

Kid’s view

I really liked the idea of this amazing world deep beneath the sea, which only the two children have the power to enter. The Mer children Faro and Elvira seem friendly, but there is also something sinister and dark about them too. I wanted to like them, but I didn’t trust them.The bit near the end where the seals go nuts and attack the divers who dare to explore the Mer burial ground was brilliant. I can’t wait to read the second part in this trilogy (out September 2006). There are lots of things I want to find out about.“
Fred (11)

Credits

Parent’s view

“Sapphire and Conor have to come to terms with the sudden, baffling disappearance of their father, and deal with the emergence of a new man in their mother’s life: the amiable Roger. Their differing attitude towards Roger is authentic, amusing and at times touching. At the end of the book, you are left with the sense of having only just have skimmed the surface of Ingo, this enchanting, but perilous underwater world.We want to know if Sapphire finds her father, if her mother and Roger stay together, if it’s true that she and Conor are really part “Mer” themselves… Alice, Fred’s mum my child’s verdict: What elevates this story is that Sapphire and Conor’s existence back at home is just as compelling in its ordinariness as their magical underwater world. It explores the theme of loss and how children can adapt and grow through the changes that come about as a consequence of that loss. Bring on the sequel!

www.amazon.co.uk