Cat O'Nine Tails

Cat O'Nine Tails by Julia Golding

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Cat Royal's friend Syd has disappeared, so she and her friends go to London to find out what happened to him and along the way get press-ganged into becoming part of the crew of a British naval vessel in late 1791. Turns out someone paid the press gang to ambush them specifically, and getting home will be harder than they thought.

I accidentally read this one before #3, and maybe that makes a bit of a difference? The story is enjoyable, if somewhat improbable. What makes it three stars instead of four is that I immediately figured out the mystery of who paid off the press gang, and there wasn't much in the way of character development.

There was a little more violence in this one than in the first two, although it was certainly realistic and not graphic. There was also a smidgen more teen angst.

For readers' advisors: story and setting doorways.



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Cat Among the Pigeons

Cat Among the Pigeons by Julia Golding


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A fun adventure story featuring a young teen orphan (Cat Royal) trying to save her friend Pedro from being reclaimed into slavery by his evil master in 1790s London. Very fast-paced and exciting! It's the 2nd in a series (1st was The Diamond of Drury Lane), and I'm looking forward to reading the third (Den of Thieves)!

For Readers' Advisors: story doorway, with setting & character as secondary doorways



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The Diamond of Drury Lane

The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fun, fast-paced read. Just a delightful book with a spunky heroine. There's even a glossary in the back to help teens understand some of the British slang circa 1790. What little swearing there is, is mostly archaic (i.e. "...you old fogrum!"), and there isn't any sexual content, so it's "safe" for tweens and teens to read. The narrator/heroine is about 10 years old, and most of the other main characters are her age up through about late teens or so. Julia Golding brings the streets and alleyways of London to life, so I'm glad this is apparently the first book in a new series.


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