Review Blog

Mar 12 2010

Alice-Miranda at school by Jacqueline Harvey

Random House Australia, 2010. ISBN 9781741664515.
(Ages 8 and up) Highly recommended. Alice-Miranda Highton-Kennington-Jones decides, at the age of seven and one-quarter years, that it's time to go to boarding school. Her doting parents know there is no point trying to stop her, so tearfully drop her off at Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale Academy for Proper Young Ladies. Alice-Miranda, who one would call precocious were she not so likeable, immediately makes her mark on the school to the horror of the mysterious headmistress Miss Grimm, whom nobody has laid eyes on for ten years. Miss Grimm sets a series of seemingly impossible challenges for Alice-Miranda to face if she is to be allowed to remain at the school. With determination and endless optimism, Alice-Miranda sets out to prove she is just the sort of student Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale needs. Full of humour and with very likeable characters, this book sets a benchmark for a fantastic new series about this entertaining young lady.
Donella Reed