Leonora Bolt: Secret Inventor

by Lucy Brandt 

 ★★★★★

Review

Leonora Bolt: Secret Inventor is such a fun book, and I would recommend it to anyone, young or old, who likes an easy, exciting adventure story. The book itself is published with brilliant illustrations that bring the story and characters to life and adds an extra sparkle to the experience. The font also changes throughout the book, bringing yet another element of fun to the read. 

This book is written in a fun, refreshing and informal style which allows the reader to relax and enjoy the storyline without any complicated storylines or ideas. The characters are extremely likeable (apart from evil Uncle Luther!) and develop strong friendships as they work together to find the truth about Leonora's life.  

I absolutely love Lucy Brandt's sense of humour and how she includes little bits of humour and sarcasm throughout the story, and appreciate the sprinkle of scientific facts and knowledge that Leonora shares with the reader too. Science and humour... what more could you want!?

After reading this book, I couldn't wait to share it with my class as I knew many of my students would adore it as much as I did. I received very positive feedback from pupils and other teachers, with many of them waiting eagerly for me to buy the rest of the Leonora Bolt series.

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Key information

Author: Lucy Brandt 

Illustrator: Gladys Jose

Release Date: 20th January 2022

Book type: Short chapter, 208 pages, paperback

Reader level: Developing reader (6+)

Series: First in a series of 4 (5th coming soon!)

Overview

Leonora Bolt is a young girl who LOVES to invent things. She spends most of her days tucked away in her laboratory creating new and crazy inventions such as Flameproof shampoo, musical socks and magnetic cheese. Leonora loves to spend time with her adorable companion, Twitchy Nibbles (Twitch) her pet otter, who keeps her company on an otherwise extremely lonely island.

Although her life seems fun, Leonora is an orphan and lives on Crabby Island with her evil, wicked and ghastly uncle, Uncle Luther. This evil man steals Leonora's inventions and secretly sells them on the mainland where he is rich and famous for his unbelievable creations. Luckily, Leonora's life takes a turn for the better when a random boy called Jack is washed up onto her island on an inflatable lobster. With her new guest providing news from the mainland, Leonora soon realises that her Uncle is even more evil than she had thought, and sets off on an expedition to the mainland with the hopes of exposing his lies to the rest of the world. 

After a choppy journey to the mainland, Leonora find herself face to face with the hidden truths of her past - are her parents really dead? Were they really shopkeepers? Or are they actually geniuses who went missing on an expedition to the Arctic Circle? To find the truth, Leonora and Jack must find their way into the heart of the Society of Ingenious Geniuses, and overcome a dozen crazy hurdles that get in their way. 

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