It isn’t like Granny to ask for anything, but when Hattie’s dad receives a letter to please visit her, Hattie should have realised there was something not quite right. After all, Granny never says please either.

Hattie loves her Granny, even if she is a bit odd. Granny’s birthday gifts are always strange. It’s usually a bundle of twigs or sticks or something made of wood. Granny is mum’s mum, but now mum has gone, and Granny sounds like she’s lonely. Dad packs up Hattie, and her little brother Jonathon into their car to visit Granny in her little town of Brokewood-on-Tandle.

They find an empty house with no sign of Granny. Has she been kidnapped, wandered off, or maybe didn’t believe they would come?

While the police are investigating, so is Hattie, and what she discovers is too freaky for words. Granny’s disappearance has her friends worried too, as they are all part of The Order of the Broken Wood. They are a centuries old group that protect their little town from another realm that lies alongside it.

This realm, called the Un Forest is full of terrible monsters. There are ways to cross the realm but it is not advised. Once you are in the Un Forest, who knows what will find you and EAT you!

An evil creature from the realm wants something that Granny is hiding, and will do anything to get it. Hattie is still reeling from learning about Granny, let alone getting up close and personal with the monsters herself. If only Dad had told her the truth about Granny and her own mother’s past, she wouldn’t have to learn what she holds deep inside until it’s almost too late.

Finally trusting herself to see what is really happening around her, who is good and who is truly evil, Hattie dons the wooden armour she was always destined to wear.

This story is not for the faint-hearted as there are monsters aplenty, body possession and lots and lots of action! Set in present day, but with age old magic at play, The Girl in Wooden Armour is a ripping read.

Main character Hattie is mostly a sensible, responsible girl – just as her father asks her to be, but when she uncovers Granny’s secret, she knows this is now the time to bend the rules. Riddled with doubt and confused about her own mother’s past, she can barely bring herself to believe what she has learnt. She’s a wonderful character, slowly emerging into the Wood Warrior she has to be in order to save her family.

The alternate realm and all its monsters is well written with description that brings it alive for the reader, as monsters smash, grab, gobble and fight. The battle between good and evil sways back and forth in Hattie’s favour, holding the reader tight to the plot – who will win? A girl from the city or evil centuries old?

Great read. 

Author – Conrad Mason

Age – 9+ (not for gentle souls)

(2021, David Fickling Books, Scholastic, Monsters, Wood, Forest, Grandparent, Grandmother, Action, Courage, Family, Fantasy, Growing up, Horror, Magic, Murder, Secret, Creatures, Other Realm, Alternate Realm, Pushing boundaries, Super powers, Rock boy)