Mountainfell

Erskin and her family live in a small village, below a mountain which they are told has a dangerous Dragon living in it.  Their lord makes them send several people up to the mountain as a way to appease the spirit who live there.  When Erskin’s sister is taken by the Dragon she is determined to try and rescue her and with the help of a local boy called Leif and her rescued cat Scrat, she sets out on her perilous quest.  What she discovers is even more horrendous than she could imagine and the two heroes need to get help from unexpected quarters in order to achieve their aims.  Of course, the questions are whether Erskin will find her sister Birgit, will the village be safe and can the mystery of the mountain be solved?

This is a delightful story with a feeling of Scandinavian legends running through it; the names, descriptions of the country and the Dragon itself, all add to this atmosphere and there is also a strong thread of magic running through the story.  At its heart it is a tale about family, love and friendship and how they can be tested by external circumstances.  The heroine Erskin and her friend Leif are outsiders in some ways, but this enables them to question some of the warnings that they have been given and to learn that opinions can have more than one side.

There are also strong messages about the environment and what occupations such as mining can do to damage our world and we would do well to listen to these warnings.  This author keeps going from strength to strength as she blends magic and imagination into stories that often have quite a hard central theme.  This story is highly recommended for KS2 pupils and beyond.