Willa misses how it used to be in her house. Mum and Dad would throw gentle jibes at one another instead of the bickering they constantly do now. Her big sister Alex didn’t spend all her time in her room on her computer, and they would spent more time all together.

Now, the national news is full of international rising tensions, their failing holiday park is falling down around them and Dad might have to put his RAF uniform back on for an ever increasingly possible World War III.

When a new kid named Manny arrives at school, he latches onto Willa quickly. She doesn’t mind as she hasn’t really got any other friends. Manny comes from a foster home and has lived in lots of different places, doesn’t know his dad and can’t remember his mum. But he’s fun, and interesting, and a welcome distraction from the upheaval at home.

Manny is soon intrigued by a strange animal sighting. The news is all over it too, but Manny is more savvy about it, finding and following it with Willa in tow. This sighting takes them somewhere they would never have dreamed of.

Willa wakes up in her room – which is not her room. The colours and posters are wrong and Manny is nowhere to be seen. As she ventures further, her home, parents, school are all hers but not hers. Everyone is so nice and friendly, seemingly with no worries at all. The slang and technology are different, and the transport is eye-boggling. All very interesting but not Willa’s normal, and she soon aches for her own world.

Finding Manny, they figure it out and put things right. But not for long. No-one will believe what just happened, and Manny and Willa know they have to prove what they say, and know just how to do it. But at what cost?

Another Welford Wonder! Much has been discussed in our world about other dimensions, whether in science or in fantasy. Willa and Manny discover a way there! It’s not a fantastical world by any means and is not into the future. But many things have changed for the better.

They soon find that although this world is better in ways important to the entire planet, they miss what they know and who they love. And they are deep inside a moral dilemma as well, as they are directly affecting another’s existence. It’s not all serious and doom though, with some laugh out loud scenes, one in particular is incredibly smelly!

Told directly to the reader with a quick introduction to Manny and Willa’s world  ‘A few years from now’  at the very beginning, this story grabbed me immediately. It’s topical too with countries with seemingly unsolvable conflicts. Willa is a likeable character, who loves her family with all its faults and is trying to do the best for her new friend and someone else she has never met.

A fascinating premise with a gripping story and tense conclusion. Maybe, who knows – we can discover a peaceful resolution to our wars and attacks on our planet?

Author – Ross Welford

Age – 9+

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(2022, Harper Collins, Family, Future, Science, Adventure, Animals, Friendship, Humour, Secret, Funny, Foster kid, Cog Cat/Dog, Dimensions, War, Sea, Alternate Universe, Responsibility, Moon, Planets, Tides)