Those readers who enjoy well placed mystery clues within a story, will love Ewa Jozefkowicz's 'The Key to Finding Jack'. Jack is Flick's elder brother who goes missing when an earthquake hits the area in Peru where he has just arrived. Flick is convinced she can find him as she stumbles across a golden key while searching his bedroom for clues. The golden key symbolises the close sibling bond between them. Flick embarks on her sleuthing mission and is supported by her close friend Keira and other members of the community that she didn't realise Jack knew. It is surprising to her that the more she hears about Jack from other people she begins to wonder if she really knew her brother at all.

Jozefkowicz deals well with stacking the clues together throughout the story alongside two main themes; the distraught emotions and the subsequent fall-out when a family member goes missing and the love and support that others can give in a crisis, if you only ask for it. She also introduces the medical condition of haemophilia that it turns out Jack suffers from, a condition not often written about in children's fiction. However, Jozefkowicz does not allow this to distract from the main core of the story where it could easily have done so. I found this an uplifting and positive story of friends and family coming together when disaster strikes, and Jozefkowicz writes in an engaging rhythm and pace. I have purchased this for our school library and I would point years 4, 5 & 6 towards this book.

Ewa's Flick is a perfect little sister that everyone will crave for! She is creative, brilliant, affectionate, emotional and a bit possessive.

The Key to Finding Jack is a story to CHERISH!

Thanks to Zephyr Books for the ARC through Net Galley.

A warm, page-turning tale that combines a compelling mystery with important ideas about seeing the real person behind the face they show the world. I really liked the story within the story too - Flick has a great writing career ahead of her, just like her author!

Flick and her older brother Jack were best friends. Jack would present Flick with puzzles which she would solve – sometimes with a little help from Jack. Flick and her parents would miss Jack when he went to Peru for a ten month holiday before he started uni, but they would keep in touch when he had access to the internet. But when a massive earthquake struck Peru and they were unable to contact Jack, the family were terrified.

When Flick spent some time in Jack’s bedroom, she was searching for something to help locate him. So when she found a small key with a note “for SF”, she knew she needed to find out who SF was. She just knew it would be the answer. Along with Flick’s best friend from school, Keira, they became detectives, determined to find where Jack was and why he was unable to contact them. Would Jack return home? Would the key be the answer to finding Jack?

The Key to Finding Jack is my second by Ewa Jozefkowicz and I thoroughly enjoyed it. With intrigue, mystery, friendships and determination, the characters were all likeable, the story within the story was great plus the love and loyalty between the two siblings was exceptional. A quick read which I loved, and highly recommend.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

THE KEY TO FINDING JACK is such a fun mystery-cum-contemporary that I devoured in one day. It's such a readable book, with an engrossing, emotional tale. I wanted to know that he was safe, knowing just how hard it can be to contact loved ones when you are abroad and out of signal range.

On the one hand, it's about a girl desperate to find her brother after he goes missing, following clues taken from conversations with others, very much like a missing-persons mystery. On the other, Flick discovers her beloved brother is more complicated (in a good way) than she ever imagined, realising people have many faces and we often can only see the ones we want.

I liked how this element of finding there was more to her brother set is apart from a typical mystery. There is no killer or thief, just a person to shine more light onto. It gives it such heart, as it's such a personal reason with a chance of a hopeful, joyous ending. Bringing a killer to justice can't give you that, but THE KEY TO FINDING JACK is a heartwarming tale of the persistent love of siblings.

Alongside this, we also read Flick's own attempts at writing a mystery story, with snippets of the story that mirror her own search. Her story was such a great way of showing how much the search had affected her whole life, as well as giving her a way to process her emotions.

This is the story of 12 year old Flick and her quest to find her brother after he disappears after an earthquake in Peru.

Flick's older brother Jack leaves for a back-packing trip in Peru on his gap year but shortly after arriving, an earthquake hits, devastating much of the area where Jack was supposed to visiting. The authorities are unable to locate him and his phone just goes to voicemail. As the coverage in the news dwindles and there's still no word from Jack, everyone fears the worst. But all is not as it seems.

Unable to accept that her brother may be gone forever, Flick goes searching in Jack's room. She finds a mysterious box and inside, is a tiny key on a gold chain. A note with the initials 'SF' is also in the box and Flick is convinced that this is the 'key' to finding her brother.

Enlisting the help of her best friend Keira, Flick is determined to solve the mystery of her brother's disappearance. and the detective duo encounter many twists and twists and turns along the way. As the net closes in, they uncover a legend about Inca gold and Flick discovers a side of her brother she never knew existed.

Flick is also a talented writer and there's a lovely little 'story within a story' that she writes herself that readers will be intrigued by.

The short chapters would make this a manageable and enjoyable book for Key Stage 2 children to read independently.

This is the second book that I have read by Ewa Jozefkowicz and I have to say that she has rapidly joined my list of favourite writers. This beautifully written and structured story within a story goes straight to the heart of identity, with its theme of unlocking the barriers that we put up to hide our true selves, even from those closest to us.


As regular readers of my blog will know, mystery novels are my genre of choice, and this contemporary tale of a twelve-year-old girl desperately seeking clues to unlock the location of her beloved elder brother had me hooked from page one. The story opens with Flick ( the narrator) trying to solve one of the complex puzzles that her older brother Jack habitually sets for her. The author has cleverly planted clues to the narrative within this opening puzzle, and this is just one of the details of Ewa Jozefowicz’s writing which I loved.

Jack has just completed his A levels, in which he has astonished his parents by performing very well given their perception of him as a practical joker who has not applied himself to his studies in the way they would have wished. His father expects Jack to follow him into a career as a barrister and a law degree beckons once Jack returns from his gap year in South America. Flick is determined to treasure the remaining moments with Jack, realising that not only will she miss him while he travels, but she will see far less of him once he starts at university. Their relationship is cemented in the reader’s mind as one of love and mutual respect and encouragement.

Jack departs and Flick’s life continues as before, with her school days allowing us a glimpse of her hidden talent as a writer. Her class are set the task of writing a detective story and as Flick reads the opening of her composition aloud to her classmates you feel their incredulity at the quality of her historical story “The Case of the Beret and the Bell.” As she reaches the cliffhanger at which the young heroine Margot has disappeared in a huge London crowd she is summoned to the head teacher’s office to hear that Jack has been reported missing following an earthquake in Peru. The writing aches with the devastation and helplessness felt by Flick’s family.

What follows is a tightly plotted and compelling unfolding of clues as Flick, assisted by her best friend Keira, seeks information about her brother’s location and in so doing uncovers the hidden details of his life. Starting from the key that he has always worn around his neck and which he has left in his room addressed to S.F., they track down all of his acquaintances who share those initials. At every turn Flick is able to unlock details of his personality from the heroic tales that each person recounts. In Flick’s words, “even the people you know well can be a cryptic puzzle.” In tandem with seeking her brother, Flick continues to write her historical story. The dual narratives of being true to your own desires and talents and having the courage to be honest about your identity in the face of the expectations of those closest to you are explored sensitively and movingly. Flick lives up to her brother’s childhood nickname for her, and Jack’s actions demonstrate that there is great importance in their grandmother’s elegant motto, “Don’t forget to live.”

In summary, this heartwarming tale of unfolding identity is equally enjoyable for adult and child readers of 9+. I read it as an eARC thanks to #NetGalley but I will definitely want to obtain a physical copy as soon as one is available.

An enjoyable novel with a strong female lead character. The adventure follows 12 year old Flick as she tries to solve the mystery of the disappearance of her brother, and partner in crime, Jack. As the mystery unfolds, Flick finds herself tangled in Inca gold legends and discovers new things about herself and her sibling. An enjoyable read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this short novel about a young girl's quest to solve the mystery of a hidden key belonging to her brother who has gone missing after being involved in an earthquake whilst travelling in Peru.

I loved the relatively short chapters - they'll be great to read aloud in class, and the range of characters Flick meets as she searches for clues provide lots of interest; they all reveal a little more of the story and her brother's true character. Some lovely messages about living life to the full, making choices, family and friendship.

Cleverly embedded within the main story is a mini-tale that Flick herself creates around a mystery to be solved in Victorian times, linking to to theme of her own desire to be a writer despite the plans of her father.

Although the story is based on the earthquake in Peru and her brother's disappearance, there is not actually any of the story set in that country - this would be a good 'gateway' story to link with topics about South America, whilst being an enjoyable read in it's own right too. Brief mentions of cities and the legends around the Incas would be a great nudge towards further investigation of the country, people, traditions and stories of that part of the world.

Great to see another determined female character in a lead role in children's adventure books!