Illustrated by Steve Lenton Macmillan Books ISBN 9781529048261 £12.99
When Noah accidentally ended up on his older sister Eve’s geography field trip, it should have just been inconvenient, but that was before the teacher’s Satnav sent them in the wrong direction and they end up on a deserted island off the west coast of Ireland. To compound matters their minivan falls off a cliff and their teacher disappears, together with a boat that they had found on the beach. All of their phones have stopped working and they have no money to put in the old-fashioned phone box (which is miraculously still connected). Then they find a cache of gold bars and realize they might not be alone, but will they get off the island and home to their families?
Yet again the author has given us a wonderful young hero, who finds himself having to cope with situations beyond his experience. Noah is a year 7 boy, (aged 11-12), whilst his sister and the others are a group of year 9s, (aged 13+). However, there is nothing in the way they speak or behave that would make this unsuitable for year 5 and 6, (ages 9 and 10). Despite their perilous situation they are more concerned about the loss of the mobile phone coverage than almost anything. The story really points out how young people’s experiences are different from adults; for example, it is only after they are home that they discover they could have dialled 999 and got through to the emergency services. This is a brilliant and funny story about family, resilience and not trusting a Satnav.
Margaret Pemberton
