Teach Primary Issue 18.4

www.teachwire.net | 47 Brightstorm is an energetic and high-paced adventure story featuring a pair of 12-year-old twins, Arthur and Maudie, whose life takes a dreadful turn when they learn that their father, Ernest Brightstorm, has been reported dead on his expedition to reach South Polaris on the Third Continent. Their family’s reputation is also tainted, perhaps forever, when he is accused of stealing the fuel from the ship of another explorer by Eudora Vane, a rival sky-ship captain. With no other W hen Vashti Hardy released her debut book, Brightstorm , in 2018, there was a genuine sense of excitement in the children’s book community. Comparisons were made to other popular steampunk titles such as Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines series and Airborn by Kenneth Oppel. The book went on to be nominated for several awards, including the 2019 Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize and the 2019 Blue Peter Book Awards. way of restoring their father’s reputation, the twins join the crew of Captain Harriet Culpepper’s sky-ship, The Aurora, in an attempt to reach South Polaris and clear the Brightstorm name. As they depart Lontown and begin their journey to the Third Continent, the twins meet several fascinating characters, including a pack of thought-wolves, the wonderfully named Felicity Wiggety, and King Batzorig and King Temur from the Citadel, who all play important roles in helping the children on their quest. Set forth on an epic adventure with Vashti Hardy’s exciting story of exploration Brigh tstorm BOOK TOP I C JON B I DDLE Book topic KS2 Cover by George Ermos © Scholastic, 2018 Scholastic, 2018 T E ACH RE AD I NG & WR I T I NG