The Extraordinary Adventures of Alice Tonks

Alice arrives at her new school, dreading every moment! She will have to say goodbye to her Gran, who she lives with and she will need to try and fit in when she is clearly different and meant to stand out.

Alice is autistic and other children are not always understanding or kind about her uniqueness and ways of doing things. The open day is set on the beach and Alice is really struggling with the seaweed texture and smell. So much so that she has an outburst and runs to hide away until she can calm down. When a seagull speaks to her, Alice is certain she is suffering from sun stroke.

It turns out Alice is a Switcher, a human who can chat to and understand animals. There are animal snatchings taking place and all the animals are suspicious of the humans but they need help, and Alice is just the one to help. Along with this mystery to solve, Alice must also navigate boarding school life, a new roommate, bullies and new friend Tim. It turns out they all have secrets and it is when they finally trust each other that true friendship blooms here.

Alice has a lot to learn about switching and she has hidden talents still to surface, ones she may not be prepared for or understand entirely. Secrets have a habit of being discovered and when Alice learns more about herself and her family, pieces of turns puzzle start to connect.

Alice, Ottie and Tim are exceptional characters, unique and proof that we all have challenges in life and friends are there to support and encourage. This story is full of mystery, action and unbelievable adventure where no one should be trusted and not everyone is who they say they are!

If you choose to read this, and I strongly urge that you do, be prepared for twists, surprises and a fantastic boarding school adventure! Absolutely devoured this in two sittings and the front cover by the super talented Flavia Sorrentino just begs readers to pick this one up!

This was a quick, easy and engaging read that I think children are going to love. It was written well with a narrative and storyline that will draw them in and characters that are well developed and relatable. I think that they will love that she can talk to animals and that there is a mystery to solve. I really liked it.