A small wooden, candlelit shed is the only place Astrid has ever known. Locked inside by her mother, she is home-schooled, fed well and supplied with books, a laptop and all that she needs. But now at eleven she wants more. She has been interested in many things over the years that she has seen in the resources her mother supplies, and her latest fascination is the stars. If only she could see them – just for a little while.

Her mother however will not allow such a thing. It is a stranger that slides the locks open on the outside of the shed door to free her. At first, the outside world is too big, too much, and she wants to go back to her small shed of comfort and safety. When she sees her new home however, she soon changes her mind. After all, her mother did lock her up and it seems was planning to put even more security measures in place to keep her there.

Astrid’s new home is still London. Not the London she has seen in books and on her mother’s laptop screen, but above London in a world of winged people, staircases, and giant flowers. This world is where the Librae live. Librae are folk that are born between particular dates in the latter of a year, that will develop and fledge into Librae, where wings will sprout from between their shoulders.

Being accepted into London Overhead and making new friends is all captivating to Astrid, and she misses her mother less and less. But being a new student to the Librae school called Starminster, but without family, gives her an opportunity to explore this new world. It’s a combination of her curiosity and taking part in a tiny rebellious act with her fellow students that leads her to a mystery.

This mystery connects London Overhead and London Underfoot by a spate of missing children, and Astrid is determined to dig deeper. After all, she knows what it’s like to be in an unfamiliar place, far from home. She can’t imagine who is stealing children from London, or why, but she risks everything she has gained to find out.

The premise of a locked up child drew me to this middle-grade read. I wanted to know why she was locked up and would she ever escape? This is far from a terrible tale of child captivity however – but one of wonder, wings and a loving mother trying to protect her child from a world without her.

Main character Astrid is plucky, caring and inquisitive – treasuring all the things she lacked for her first 11 years. Friendship, classmates and freedom are wonderful, but her very differences in her new world are what helps her see what’s wrong with it too. The villain of the story has terrifying reasons for the things he plans, and a spectacular action-packed confrontation takes the reader through to a satisfying ending and a sequel. It too will be well worth a read.

Author – Megan Hopkins

Age – 8+

(2024, Harper Collins, Locked up, Captivity, Shed, Winged people, Librae, New friends, A world above out world, New school, Devious plans, Freedom, Fantasy, Courage, Mystery, Missing children, London, Secret, Series)