Ollie Spark and the Accidental Adventure

This is a brilliant new series from the author of The Demon Headmaster, introducing a loveable and unlikely hero. Ollie Spark is obsessed with engineering and is constantly employed by various members of his huge family to fix things around the over-crowded house. When his zany Aunt Caz brings home a beat-up old library van and quad bike, and declares her intentions to tour the world in search of inspiration for her unique blend of recipe-based detective novels, Ollie is tasked with working his usual magic to get everything road-worthy.

A slight misunderstanding leads to Ollie accidentally accompanying Aunt Caz on her travels, which take the pair to an unnamed, smog-ridden city where tower blocks stretch up through black clouds of smoke. The residents speak no English and eat nothing but turnips, which, because she is adorably open-minded and positive, makes Aunt Caz very excited.

When his aunt goes missing, Ollie is forced to discover more and more about this mysterious, barren land. Armed with nothing but his tool belt and his intuition, he powers up the quad bike and follows every clue he can find. Eventually, after adopting a helpful sidekick in the form of a hungry dog – Gasket – Ollie learns that he is in the setting of a longstanding conflict between two opposing ideologies.

In remarkably accessible prose, Cross grants children entrance into debates around huge, vital themes like environmentalism and individual liberty. Ollie’s actions teach us that there is rarely a simple solution to such complex themes, while reminding us of the importance of standing up for what we feel is right.

With such an enormous family, and such an appetite for adventure, it’s clear that Ollie Spark and Aunt Caz are in line for plenty of sequels.