The Star-spun Web

This is a book that grabs you from the very first page and keeps tight hold until the very end.

Tess de Sousa loves science almost as much as she loves her pet tarantula, Violet. Together, they live at Akerbee's Home for Lost & Foundlings ... that is until the day the mysterious Norton Cleat turns up, announcing that he is a distant relative of Tess's. He takes her to Roedeer Lodge and provides her with a state of the art science lab; so why do Tess and Violet feel that something is amiss? Why is the housekeeper, Mrs Thistleton, so unkind to her? And what on Earth is the mysterious object that was left with Tess by her father as a baby? So many questions and Tess' inquiring mind is determined to find the answers.

This is a book about friendship, determination, finding strength and using all of that to travel between different worlds in order to try to save the day!

Tess has a strength of character that comes from the love she has received at Akerbee's and the friendships she has formed there. Her love of science enables her to think logically through some difficult situations and, with the help of Violet, shows that you should never give up.

Although Tess is undoubtedly the main character, Violet is so well portrayed as a personality in her own right (never has so much been said by one character without actually uttering a word!) and the pair show that friendship can be forged in many different guises. I'm not a fan of spiders (in fact, it's fair to say I'm rather terrified of them!) but I quickly warmed to Violet and simply loved the bond between her and Tess.

This is a wonderful second novel, Sinead, and one which I know will go down well.