Anyone But Ivy Pocket

Reviewed By  Janet Mawdesley       May 1, 2016

 

Author  Caleb Krisp Ill: John Kelly

Distributor:      Allen & Unwin
ISBN:                 9781408858639
Publisher:         Bloomsbury Childrens
Release Date:   May 2016  

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Ivy Pocket is a ladies maid but not just an ordinary ladies maid, she is really quite extraordinary in that no matter what she tries to do, somehow or other things do not always turn out to go the way they should.

She has once again found herself without a job in Paris, and with no sure idea of how long her last wage from Countess Carbuncle will last her she is a bit desperate to find either another job or another employer.

Neither seems to be coming along so when the Manager of the Hotel refuses her a job of work, she has to leave. The bellboy calls her back as she is walking out of the Hotel; she has been commanded to appear before the Duchess of Trinity who is dying and wants Ivy to fulfil a last request.

It turns out this last request is to take a diamond to  a former friend of the Duchesses, Lady Prudence, to be handed to her daughter Matilda on her birthday; and that is when the adventure begins for Ivy Pocket.

Now Ivy is a special little girl who never takes things at face value, who always believes her own make-believe and certainly, if not definitely, sees the world through rose coloured glasses, or a different dimension.

Ivy soon finds her way on-board a ship to England with strict instruction on how to travel safely to England and to get the diamond to the rightful owner without mishap.

But…. as Ivy Pocket is involved nothing goes as planned, leaving a trail of dead and dangerous people in her wake as she travels on to Butterfield Park, in Sussex, to complete her commission of delivering the Clock Diamond to Matilda.

As Ivy has no who her parents were, as she was abandoned on the steps of the Harrington Home for Unwanted Children at the age of 5 years old and this could have something to do with the way she looks at the world, she finds that once she reaches Butterfield Park, strange and unlooked for occurrence’s begin to happen, giving her flashback’s to when she was a small child, amongst other things.

But what could all this have to do with the stupid old diamond……………..well that is why you need to keep on reading to find out.

But rest assured, with Ivy Pocket in charge the ending will not be anything even you could dream up.

A fabulous read for children in the 10-13 year age range who enjoy the quirky, out there style of imagination, where anything could and usually does manage to happen.

What will Ivy Pocket get up to next is yet to be revealed, providing of course all ends well at Butterfield Park?