Who needs Harry Potter when you can thrill to the adventures of Dido Twite, the indefatigable Cockney heroine of Joan Aiken's Wolves Chronicles?
In the penultimate installment, Dido is back in England during the (fictional) reign of King Richard IV, just in time to help save the throne from the loutish son of a werewolf baron. Yes, the plot sounds outrageous, and perhaps it is--but the story is so fast-paced, the narrative so vivid and yet so concise, and the characters so charismatic that even the most literal-minded reader (youngster or adult) is unlikely to care.
For fans of Aiken's entire series, which begins with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and includes Black Hearts in Battersea, Nightbirds on Nantucket, and The Cuckoo Tree (one of my favorites), one of the most rewarding aspects of Midwinter Nightingale is sure to be Dido's reunion with her mate Simon--and the bittersweet yet open-ended way Aiken closes the book... leaving way for the final installment, The Witch of Clatteringshaws.