Vita and her mum are visiting New York to convince her beloved Grandfather to return to the UK with them. After losing his wife who was his entire world, he looks even worse than she’d imagined. He’s also lost his lifetime home of Hudson Castle to a wealthy property developer, and now lives in an apartment directly opposite Carnegie Hall.

It’s a time of Prohibition, Gangsters, Illegal bars (speakeasys) and crime is rife on New York streets. But Vita has a plan. She’s going to get her Grandfather’s home back, and nothing is going to stop her. When she finds that confronting the developer face to face (Victor Sorrotore) achieves only his scorn, she’s even more determined. A pick pocketing maid from his premises is soon part of Vita’s plans.

Carnegie Hall is currently hosting a circus, and two boys are also quickly part of her scheme. One has a wonderful knack with birds and animals and another loves to fly high on the trapeze. Both understand her dream to help her grandfather as they have secret dreams of their own.

(Vita has skills too. When she fell ill with polio as a young child, her grandfather taught her how to throw ping pong balls, then stones, right up to small knives, with pinpoint precision at targets to distract her from her illness.)

Vita and her friends face danger again and again, up against a powerful con man who thinks nothing of murder or the victims he’s left behind. But he’s never been up against someone like Vita before.

Her love for her Grandfather makes her fierce and fearless, and with cunning and forward planning, a plot twist puts her exactly where she wants to be. An adventure story that draws you in, and makes you cheer the characters towards their goal.

Author – Katherine Rundell

Age – 8+

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(Action, Adventure, Prohibition, New York, Con man, Circus, Family, Grandparent, Friendships, Crime, Determination, Bootleg Alcohol)