The Golden Swift

LoveReading4Kids Says

There’s nothing eleven-year-old Kate likes more than climbing into the cab of her (talking) train the Silver Arrow and heading out on a journey to rescue animals and transport them, magically, to new, safe homes somewhere across the world. But lately, things have changed. Her little brother Tom is more interested in his martial arts than in the Silver Arrow, it’s a struggle balancing school and non-school life, and no matter how many animals Kate helps, it’s never enough.

Plus, her uncle Herbert, eccentric billionaire and owner of the magic train, has gone missing.

Desperate to find him, Kate takes the Silver Arrow out on her own in defiance of the rules. To her surprise, she finds another train, the Golden Swift, and discovers it’s driven by one of her classmates, Jag. His approach to saving animals is more radical, he’s putting nature right by unilaterally rewilding areas.

But the children learn that ‘un-messing’ the chaos humans have caused is complicated. Nonetheless, there’s lots in Kate and Jag’s adventures to cheer readers up, and no shortage of thrills and spills either as the children make friends, take risks, and push the trains as far as they’ll go.

The mix of fun, friendship, magic adventures, and eco-activism is a winning one, and this second outing for the Silver Arrow is as rewarding, stimulating and entertaining as the first.

Reviewed by Andrea Reece
Andrea Reece has spent almost her entire working life in children’s books, first as publisher, latterly as consultant, project manager and critic.
More reviews by Andrea Reece

About The Golden Swift

Discover the magical, timeless, bestselling children's adventure series from Lev Grossman, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Magicians.

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