April 2010

Author/s: Julia Golding
Publisher: Oxford University Press UK
Reviewed by: Esta Burger Age: 15 years
ISBN 13: 9780192754608

Connie has a special connection with animals. Maybe she’s just an environmental person, or maybe she has a special gift... After several misfortunes at previous schools, Connie’s parents send her to her peculiar aunt in Hescombe. Connie believes it will be no different in the new town, but that is until her aunt introduces her to a strange woman with a son that has exactly the same unique eyes as Connie; one brown and one green eye.

Things start to change in Connie’s life. The boy acts strange, there’s a weird ear protector trend and her aunt goes to meetings of a society of which Connie wishes to be a part of, but her aunt is very mysterious about it all.

Then workers start disappearing at the local refinery and nobody can explain their deaths. When Connie and her friends want to investigate, the boy with the same eyes as Connie, Col, tries to stop them. So, what is up with everyone? Connie decides to find out and secretly climb on her aunt’s boat on their way to ‘a meeting’. Once on the open sea, Connie goes up to the deck and hears beautiful singing. Everybody is wearing ear protectors, except for Connie... Suddenly Connie starts to sing: a strange, unknown and beautiful song rises from her throat. As Connie stands there singing, feathery creatures rise from the ocean and stand before her. Connie cannot believe her eyes...

The creatures take her with them and she discovers she has in fact a special gift. I am not going to tell the rest; it is really exciting. She also discovers the evil force she now has to fight, namely Kullervo. Together with The Society of the Protection of Mythical Creatures, she holds the shield upright when evil tries to overpower her...

For me this was a brilliant book! It is written so well; you don’t feel like putting the book down at all. The writer describes the characters’ appearances and personalities so well I could easily imagine them. I loved the magic and the way the writer makes it so believable. The writer describes the mythical creatures in a way that make them sound very real and almost normal. It makes you want to be Connie! The points of view change from Connie to Col, and that makes it cool too, but a bit predictable here and there.

I really recommend the book to all teenagers who love magic and adventure!

Link to online catalogue
Secrets of the Sirens