Hyacinth and the Stone Thief

This is an interesting story about discovering who you are. Hyacinth Hayward is focused on learning more about the magical rivers under London and its ancient mysteries. Her plans get thwarted when she encounters magical villains, specifically Minnie Tickle, who are stealing the ancient stones, affecting history and creating chaos. So she gets the help of a quirky group of characters, including a giant pig, cork men, mud police, and others, to defend the stones. Hyacinth is strong, creative, and fun. I’d love to have her as a friend. The plot is mysterious but a bit convoluted and confusing. The main characters are pretty well developed, but the point of some of the others is hard to figure out. The book is well written, although at times the language does not always flow as smoothly as I would have liked. The story is likely to be enjoyable to children over the age of eight and under thirteen. It is the second book in the series and Hyacinth is a good character to have in a series. This book does remind me a bit of the Harry Potter series. I would especially recommend this series for magic and fantasy fanatics. Overall, this is an interesting book, suspenseful, witty, funny, and maybe just a bit too wacky.