Sammy Feral’s Diaries of Weird

How do you cope when your whole family turn into werewolves? This is the dilemma facing Sammy Feral. Borrowing the breezy, first-person style of the diary, the reader follows Sammy as he tries to concoct an antidote to the Were Virus while trying to look after his parents’ zoo and prevent it falling into the hands of the dastardly Professor Pickett. In this he has the help of Donny – a specialist in the weird and wonderful, and Red, a girl who can bend iron bars with a look. Pace is everything, colloquial language and dialogue ensuring that the action rattles along helped by a judicious sprinkling of illustrations. Sammy is an engaging protagonist who will appeal to young KS2 readers who might be familiar with Charlie Small, Cornelia Funke’s ‘Ghosthunters’ and Eva Ibbotson’s younger titles. We can be sure that Sammy and his family will appear again in more weird adventures.