Leonora lives on an isolated island with her unsympathetic uncle, constantly inventing gadgets to solve day to day problems (which may or may not work) and wondering about the unexplained tragedy that befell her parents. It is only when a boy from the mainland arrives on the island having been swept out to sea that she finds not all is as she has been told...
A madcap adventure, full of eccentric characters, where resourceful children are forced to outwit duplicitous, grasping adults... what's not to enjoy?

This is a great book to promote STEM to girls and a brilliant mystery too. Lots of twists and turns to keep the reader on their toes and a brilliantly written strong female lead in Leonora. Great for confident 7+ readers.

Leonora is a strong young woman with an amazing imagination for inventing.
She is stuck on an island but when jack appears things change and a great adventure for justice begins.....

Leonara Bolt was a quick and fun read about a quirky protagonist. The plot felt a little unoriginal but it was still fun to read about. The characters were realistic and great to read about! The writing was simple and quite funny at places. The ending was a bit of a cliffhanger and I would love to read the sequel!

Overall this was a great book! Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!

This book needs to be on the shelves of every primary school. Leonora Bolt is such a wonderful character. She is brave, bold, loyal and an utter genius when it comes to inventing things. This book is packed full of STEM in such a clever way and the story and characters will enthuse and delight young readers. The fabulous illustrations complement the fast paced, action packed, fun filled story, making this a first class, must-read illustrated chapter book. I think Leonora is going to be a huge hit and I look forward to continuing her adventures with her and her friends.

With huge thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this amazing book.

Super fun and super cute! I loved this chapter book. It's pitched just right for the age group. Perfect blend of humour and excitement. Looking forward to the next one already.

Meet Leonora Bolt - a brand new character in children’s fiction who is part Ada Twist, part Izzy Gizmo and is the latest in the line of fabulous and cool young, female inventors that readers will love getting to know and adventuring with.

On remote Crabby Island, nine-year-old Leonora Bolt comes up with all sorts of incredible inventions. Her latest is gizmo is the ‘Switcheroo’, a device that can make objects swap places thanks to a clever bit of quantum physics and it could be the key to getting her to the mainland, something her Uncle Luther is very keen not to happen. This had never bothered Leonora until a young boy washes up on the island via an inflatable lobster. Not only does Jack claim to have seen Leonora’s inventions before but that Uncle Luther is some kind of mainland celebrity. Surely this is impossible unless Uncle Luther is up to no good and is stealing Leonora’s work.

Accompanied by new friend Jack, Twitchy the otter, chef of all things disgusting Millie and happy-go-lucky singing ferry driver Captain Spang, Leonora heads off to the mainland to stop her villainous uncle and to discover the truth about her past…

I loved this wonderfully silly STEM-filled adventure with its incredible inventions, assortment of rather funky fishy food and fabulous characters, well except Uncle Luther, he is a right old rotter. Full of fun, friendship, fantastic feats of engineering and a fair few surprises, Leonora’s wild and wacky adventures and equally wild and wacky imagination ensure a madcap read that bounces along as quickly as she thinks up her latest idea. The brilliantly written story with lots of awesome illustrations by Gladys Jose make this another great addition to the illustrated chapter book selection for lower middle-grade readers.

STEM, and rightly so, is very much a focus subject at the moment in primary schools and science and engineering is everywhere in this book, from inventions to particle physics to supercomputers to quantum mechanics. It is so refreshing to have a STEM-loving girl shine - more of these in children’s fiction please. Leonora is bright, brave and is not only a great role model but the kind of child that readers will want to be friends with. She loves tinkering, taking things apart and her brain whirrs with ingenious ideas from magnetic cheese to musical socks to a bee sting reverser to flameproof shampoo (which is actually quite useful if you’re prone to setting fire to your hair).

The great news is that Leonora’s adventures do not end here. Whilst the ending wraps up many aspects of this particular adventure it leaves plenty of questions unanswered and Leonora will return in book two with hopes of finding her parents and discovering what actually happened to Uncle Luther - is he still residing in possibly the stinkiest cave in children’s fiction or is the evil genius lurking elsewhere?

With huge thanks to Penguin Random House for the copy I received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Recommended for 7+.

When I grow up, I want to be like Leonora Bolt! This was a phenomenal book for young girls and boys alike. There's clever wordplay, an easy to follow story, and a very inspiring main character. Looking forward to sharing more adventures with Leonora in future books.

This was just a perfect book to read. 9-year old Leonora is a brilliant role model: she is daring and bold, uses her brain to come up with brilliant inventions and to get out of tricky situations, and has a love of science. And she is a secret inventor! But what will happen when her most brilliant - and most dangerous - invention yet falls into the wrong hands?

This book has everything you could possibly ask for: a brave heroine, great friends, a dastardly evil villain, madcap inventions, and even a pet otter! There is a good balance of peril and humour (lethal fermented caviar, anyone?). I especially liked the evocative language - I could really see Crabby Island and Leonora’s lighthouse in front of my eyes. One of the best things about this book though? It was seeing Leonora use scientific disciplines such as particle physics and quantum mechanics, tinker with microprocessors and name the landmarks on her island after constellations. STEM is everywhere in this book!

I am really excited to read the next instalments in this new series and to see how Leonora’s adventure continues.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Children's UK for the digital review copy.

If someone - say a terribly smart little girl with phenomenal inventing skills - were to build a machine that could shake together Ada Twist: Scientist & A Series of Unfortunate Events' Violet Baudelaire to create hilarious and brand-spanking new character, then you'd have Leonora Bolt - a wondrously clever and brilliantly brave nine-year-old inventor, stuck on a secret island with her wicked Uncle Luther (a secret millionaire who has been exploiting Leonora's genius for his own gain).

When a boy called Jack washes up on an inflatable lobster, Leonora find's everything she thought she knew about the world thrown into question - like the fact that apparently you CAN eat sweets without being thrown in jail , and that maybe her parents aren't quite as dead as she's been lead to believe! And so, with the help of a the world's worst sea-captain, an utterly terrible chef, and an adorable otter called Twitchy, Leonora ventures off to the mainland to thwart her evil uncle and find out the truth about her past.

I accidentally binge read Leonora Bolt in a night because I couldn't tear myself away from this hilarious, face-paced adventure. The characters were so lovable and fun (aside from Uncle Luther, who is perfectly pantomime-villain detestable.... and fun) , and the jokes come so fast and thick I was worried I might wake my kids laughing at certain points.

The level of peril and tension is just perfect for lower Middle-Grade, although the mad-cap comedy and brilliant inventions will ensure this appeals to older readers too! Leonora is smart, resourceful and very relatable main character - and a tech-y genius, which is always a plus (more Girl-In-STEM please!!) The ending of the book wraps up the main adventure nicely, while leaving threads hanging for a sequel kids will chomping at the bit to read!

(UPDATING: Can't believe I forgot to mention Gladys Jose's wonderful illustrations, which bring a whole new level wonder to an already sparkling joy of a book. Almost every page is adorned with something, whether it's a tiny detail in the corner or a full-page illustration! Kids will also love the fun with fonts, which are played about with to great effect here and so much to comedy & excitement of the story)

I've adored this e-ARC, and cannot WAIT for my science-obsessed 8yo to read the physical book when it comes out in a couple of weeks.

Also - can we get a Leonora Bolt TV series please? I'd binge that too!

I loved Leonora! What a fabulous and fun character, and a joy to read. An inspirational character for young readers.

Her fantastical inventions are such fun, and I love how she recycles things to create them too, a fab message for readers.

It has a brilliantly diverse cast of characters, that are so much fun, and are really brought to life with their dialogue, actions and gorgeous illustrations by Gladys Jose.

Leonora is a brilliant character, a feisty and strong minded young inventor. This is an action packed story, with fabulous inventions and twists and laughs galore, I loved it and can't wait to read more of Leonora's adventures.

My daughter (9) and I absolutely loved Leonora Bolt. She is an excellent role model for young girls! The pace of the book was great and kept us hooked, making us giggle and gasp frequently! A must read.
Thank you so much for the arc.

Leonora isn’t just smart, she’s a total genius and her unique gift is creating intriguing inventions. She’s working on something that is going to be epic but she’s right to hide it from her nasty uncle as he’s not what he seems.

Featuring a bright & brave main character, this book will appeal to a lot of readers who look for someone they can admire and want to be friends with. The adventure zips along at a cracking pace with fun supporting characters, a dastardly villain and marvellous illustrations by Gladys Jose. It will have kids giggling away and hooked on the madcap adventure.

I received an advance digital copy in return for an honest review.

A brilliant book for inspiring inventors. Leonora is trapped on a distant island with her less the caring uncle. Her only escape is her inventions - but when Jack washes up on her beach her world is turned upside down and she is finally embarks in a dangerous mission to find the truth and stop her Uncle once and for all.

Adventure, humour, bold illustrations and manageable text make this an ideal book for reading aloud or reading alone.

What a brilliant new series! Leonora is a master inventor and all round clever girl! She has created several fantastic items for her own use around her island, Crabby Island. She lives here with Uncle Luther, a smarmy and not very nice man, She can’t remember her parents but she misses them dearly.
Her uncle often goes to the mainland but never takes Leonora and until this one day, she hasn’t minded. However, on this day, her world will change completely! Old family arguments, secret identities and new friends will reveal themselves- all with the arrival of Jack on an inflatable lobster!
Heartwarming yet funny and full of clever ideas, inventions and engineering information, this will suit any young reader keen to learn more about the world around them.
I predict big things for this series!
I was completely hooked and read it in two sittings. Loved Leonora and her courage in facing these secrets from the past and her quick understanding of the world she has been sheltered from.