by Julia Golding
ages 10+

You’re looking for a good adventure story right? Something light, a little bit thrilling, with a smidgen of romance and mystery and politics, and a lot of getting out of tight scrapes? You’ve come to the right place, my friends, and I offer you The Diamond of Drury Lane, the first in a series by Brit author Julia Golding.

Cat — short for Catherine — Royal is an orphan of uncertain (call her 12ish) age, and having been taken in at a young age by a Mr. Sheridan, owner of the Royal Theater (hence the last name) in London. She’s grown up backstage at the theater, and while her most estimable position is message runner, she loves her life. Then one day, she overhears Mr. Sheridan talking to a somewhat suspicious-looking man about hiding a diamond in the theater. The same day, a former slave named Pedro Hawkins (who plays the violin marvelously) shows up. Between these two events, Cat’s life will never be the same — or boring! — again.

The best word to describe the book is fun. It’s not deep, being meant for middle graders and all, but it keeps it’s pace well (especially since it’s 400+ pages long!), and keeps the reader, well me at least, engaged. There’s a lot of tight scrapes, a lot of close calls, a lot of adventure in the highest sense.

What really made the book for me, though, was Cat. I loved her. She had me wrapped around her finger, hook, line and sinker. Full of spunk and sass, but caring, loving and oh-so-needy, Cat’s voice completely carried the book for me. She was willing to trust others, yet smart enough to figure what she needed to out. The other characters — and there were a lot — weren’t quite as compelling, though I did like Johnny and Lord Francis. I couldn’t quite figure Pedro out, but I think that was intentional. He wasn’t supposed to be a cut-and-dried character, but I’m not sure Golding quite pulled the ambiguity off. Still, that’s a minor quibble in what is otherwise a clever book.

This is a good stand-alone book, which makes me wonder what Golding’s going to do with Cat in the next book. Here’s hoping it’s published in the US…

(Just for the record: because this is a Cybils nominee, I’ve been asked to make sure y’all know this is my opinion only, and not that of the panel.)