August 2009, Oxford University Press
192 pages, Paperback
Review copy
Children's
Cushions: 4/5
Smiles: 2/5
Yunaleska's recommended rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
Yet again a book from a series I read when I was younger has been re-released. For those who haven't heard of the Demon Headmaster - he is literally that. He hypnotised school children to do his bidding, and it was down to Dinah and her group of friends to bring him to justice.
In this fourth adventure, Dinah has now moved to a new village, but her old nemesis isn't out of her life. People in the village are acting strange - they all say the same phrases. Only Simon isn't fond of the laboratory which exists in the village. A laboratory which can't be innocent - why else would there by a creeper which grows as Dinah watches it, then shrivels up and dies, leaving no evidence at a time when she needs it? Why is Rose, one of those who had been under the headmaster's thrall at the village too? Just why is she trying so hard to convince Dinah's friends that Dinah is mad?
All the way through the book I sat with a hand near my mouth as Dinah faced danger at every turn. I got taken back to when I read these books originally, enjoying the fear of meeting the headmaster again, of the unethical creature he creates. I couldn't second guess how Dinah got out of situations which looked hopeless to save herself. At one point, when even her friends seem against her, I could feel her despair radiate from the pages.
I can't look at creepers in the same light now: I have to watch them, to check if they are growing at an abnormal rate.
Gillian Cross has her own website here.
Liked this? Try Legend by John Brindley
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