Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow

Name: Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow
Author: Jessica Townsend
ISBN: 9780316419901

by Jessica Townsend

Ages 9–12 Reading age 10 Novel Set in school adventurousspooky

Morrigan starts at the Wundrous Society, where her classmates are being blackmailed and someone inside is selling them to a monster.

A story about children and magical creatures, adventurous and spooky in tone. We would put it with children of 9–12, and at a reading age of about 10 for reading alone.

Worth knowing before you buy

Mild peril
Frightening scenes

None of this makes it a bad book — often the opposite. It is here so you can decide whether it is right for your child now or in a year or two.

Part of a series

This is book 2 of the Nevermoor series, so there is more to read if it goes down well — which is worth a great deal with a reluctant reader.

Our take on this book

Having won her place in the magical city of Nevermoor, Morrigan Crow finally joins the prestigious Wundrous Society — only to find her fellow scholars distrust her, her lessons are being withheld, and the dangerous truth about her own rare and feared power, that of a Wundersmith, begins to emerge. Jessica Townsend's second book deepens everything that made the first so loved: the gorgeously inventive world, the warm found-family, and a central mystery about Morrigan herself, now with higher stakes and richer danger. The peril is real but the tone stays bright, funny and full of wonder. For a nine- to twelve-year-old already enchanted by Nevermoor, it is a thrilling, satisfying continuation — best read after the first book — and many readers think it even better than the opener. It keeps children utterly hooked on one of the most imaginative fantasy series of recent years, and hungry for the next.