Into the Spotlight by Carrie Hope Fletcher

Great Aunt Maud visits seasides the world over and has become quite the pebble collector. Pebbles of all shapes, sizes and colours and even one that looked a bit like Elvis Presley if you held it up to the light and squinted a bit. Her favourite pebbles, however, are Marigold, Margot and Morris.

One by one, and by strange and unusual ways, each child arrives at the stage door of Great Aunt Maud's theatre in the heart of London.

They spend their summer holidays backstage with an extraordinary cast of theatre acts - Dante the miraculous magician, Petunia the storyteller and seventy-year-old contortionists - the Fortune Sisters!

One day, as they are exploring the many nooks and crannies of the theatre, they stumble upon something they were never meant to find . . .

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This is a fantastic read. At first I thought it was a retelling or an homage, an up to date version of the story, but it's actually a sequel. The Pebbles discover that the Fossil children existed, and their search to find out more forms a large part of this novel.

I loved the characters. The husband and husband team of magician and actor, the huge, incredibly clumsy stunt coordinator, even Petunia the door keeper with her ever changing accessories. Everyone was wonderful and they all added something special to this magical tale. The few characters from Ballet Shoes we saw were great, too.

It's not necessary to have read Ballet Shoes...although you should read Ballet Shoes, really...to understand this story; it stands on its own with everything you need to know. You'll miss some of the fum little injokes, but nothing serious.

I wish I could visit the Pebble Theatre. I'd love to see a very special show there. But as is, I'll just read the book over and recommend it to as many people as possible.


Into the Spotlight publishes on the 17th September, 2020.