Holly Moon’s Incredible Book of Hypnotism by Georgia JByng (Macmillan Children’s Books pound;12.99) is set in an orphanage - no doubt to exaggerate the vulnerability of the children and the menace of the staff.
After years of humiliation at Hardwick House, Molly discovers she has a talent for hypnotism. She hypnotises the judges of a talent contest and wins pound;3,000, which precipitates her on a whirlwind adventure to New York, hotly pursued by Dr Nockman, who wants to use her book of hypnotism to rob a bank.
Georgia Byng has a fertile imagination and the plot has flashes of Dahl-like inspiration. However, I fear that all but the most committed readers in Year 6 will find this book a little convoluted, and the saccharine ending ultimately unsatisfying.
Fiona Lafferty is librarian at St Swithun’s junior school, Winchester
