by Georgia Byng
ages: 10+
First sentence: “Molly Moon looked down at her pink, blotchy legs.”
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Molly is an orphan in a not very happy-making orphanage. It’s a dismal, dank place, full of bullies, run by the meanest director this side of Miss Hannigan.

Then, Molly discovers (in the library!) an old how-to book on Hypnotism, which she furtively devours and discovers that she’s got the gift. From there, she takes control of her life, hypnotizing people left and right: she wins a talent competition, heads to New York, becomes a famous starlet. Everything is going great, except her best friend Rocky has been adopted. However (again through hypnotism), once they’re reunited, nothing can stop them.

Except for a bad guy who wants them to seal a bunch of jewels. Can Molly hypnotize her way out of the muddle she’s gotten herself into?

It’s a fun little book, and even though I found the middle of the book to be a bit sluggish, and the end a bit preachy, I had a fun enough time with the book. It’s quite silly, with it’s tongue-in-cheek, over-the-top situations. And it’s a grand fantasy, giving a 10-year-old girl not only control, but almost superhuman power.

Which makes it, in the end, quite fun.