Today it is my stop on the blog tour for Angela Kecojevic’s latest book Scareground, published by Neem Tree Press.

Angela Kecojevic is a senior librarian, author and creative writing tutor. She has written for the Oxford Reading Tree programme and the multi-award-winning adventure park Hobbledown where her characters can be seen walking around, something she still finds incredibly charming. This is Fern a fairy from Angela’s Hobbledown novel.

Angela is a member of the Climate Writers Fiction League, a group of international authors who use climate issues in their work. Angela lives in the city of Oxford with her family.

Scareground is about twelve-year-old Nancy Crumpet lives above a bakery and her life is a delightful mix of flour, salt, and love. Yet her mind is brimming with questions no one can answer: Why did her birth parents disappear? Why can she speak with the sky? And why must she keep her mysterious birthmark hidden?

Everything is about to change when the Scareground returns to Greenwich. Nancy is convinced it holds the answers to her parents’ disappearance. Nancy and her best friend Arthur Green meet the fair’s spooky owner, Skelter, and discover a world full of dark magic and mystery. Nancy must confront her greatest fears to get to the truth. But is she ready for all the secrets the Scareground will reveal?

My stop on the Write Reads ultimate tour involves a book review.

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Title: Scareground

Written by: Angela Kecojevic

Cover design by: Anna Morrison

Published by: Neem Tree Press

Victorian Greenwich is the perfect setting for this spooky middle grade mystery, crammed with dark crows, deathly phantoms which secrete slugs and the sinister demon, Agramon. There is an unusual occurrence with every turn of the page from mysterious balloons and a magnificent airship – to metallic stallions with ghostly riders and secret notes. Scareground covers themes of belonging, courage and friendship.

The characters are so vividly described, the reader gets an instant image of them. Each has their own intriguing backstory. The main protagonist, Nancy is a sky reader and can talk to the sky, who she considers her friend. She has a mysterious horse shaped, silver birthmark on her wrist and believes it is a clue to who her real parents are. It reminds her of the Arabian horses in the pictures of the fair but her adopted parents, Ma and Pa Crumpet, have made her promise not to go to the fair.

Her only other friend, other than the Sky, is the doctor’s son, Arthur. Together they plan to visit the fair to find out more about the mysterious things that have happened since it arrived in the village and discover the mystery behind who Nancy really is. I particularly enjoyed Nancy and Arthur’s story arcs which cleverly show how their character’s grow throughout the story. They both have to face their greatest fears to defeat Agramon and save the village.

Angela Kecojevic has a talent for creating tension and intrigue. Even the ending after everything is wrapped up is a great set up for book two with impending sky pirates dropping anchor to steal Nancy’s secrets. I can’t wait!

Most definitely an eerie read, ideal for Halloween.

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To find out more about Angela and her books on her website: angelakecojevic.com and by checking out her Linked Tree: https://linktr.ee/akecojevic

You can read highlights from my Writers’ Forum interview with Angela here: An interview with… Angela Kecojevic

I have also interviewed Angela about writing Scareground as a special guest on my blog. You can read the Q&A interview here: Special Guest Q & A with Angela Kecojevic

To follow the rest of the Write Reads ultimate tour check out the tour schedule:

You can buy copies of Scareground by Angela Kecojevic direct from Neem Tree Press , or from your local bookshop, or online at uk.bookshop.org which supports local, independent bookshops.

I would like to thank The Write Reads for inviting me to take part in this ultimate tour. Thank you.