Rosie Frost and the Falcon Queen

By Author / Illustrator

Geri Halliwell-Horner

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

Publisher

Scholastic

ISBN

9780702328695

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

03-10-2023

Synopsis

"A brilliant read, so inventive and exciting", Jacqueline Wilson. Written by music icon Geri Halliwell-Horner, this fast-paced adventure on a hidden island is filled with family secrets, shocking betrayals and girl power! It's time to find your power.

Suddenly orphaned and alone, Rosie Frost is sent to the mysterious Bloodstone Island - home not only to a school for extraordinary teens, but also a sanctuary for endangered species. There, Rosie confronts a menacing deputy headmaster, a group of mean girls bent on destroying her, and shocking family secrets. She also discovers that history can come to life in ways she never could have imagined. When the island itself comes under threat, Rosie knows she must enter and win the Falcon Queen Games in a desperate bid to save it. But Rosie can't do it alone. She finds that believing in herself - and her friends - is the first step to finding the power she never knew she had.

Written by Spice Girl, songwriter and author Geri Halliwell-Horner With a thrilling mix of history, mystery, nature, music and adventure, this book is a brilliant read for everyone Determined and big-hearted, Rosie Frost is a new kind of hero for today's young readers.

More praise for Rosie Frost: "An intense and exciting read!" Erin Lyn Hamilton, Children's Librarian for Suffolk Libraries. "a cracking adventure" Jacqui Sydney, book blogger.

Reviews

When Rosie is plucked from the life she knows and thrown into the strange world of Heverbridge School on Bloodstone Island, she doesn't know who she can trust. Nobody will tell her what happened to her mum, and how she died, and the one piece of the puzzle that could tell her has been taken from her by the loathsome deputy head teacher, Mr Hemlock. Rosie feels totally alone. She doesn't know why she’s at this school. She doesn't know who she can talk to. She doesn't know where she will ever fit again.

Finding herself cruelly locked in the Falcon Queen Gallery - a gallery of paintings depicting Falcon Queens from history - on her first night at the school, Rosie is under no illusion that this is a place for her. She doesn't belong. They don't want her here. And she doesn't want to be here. And then she is visited by the spirit of Anne Boleyn and her message starts Rosie on a new path. Along the way she begins to make friends, but she's tested and tried at each step. If only she can win the Falcon Queen Games - a demanding set of challenges faced by only those who dare - then she could win the chance to make a new rule for the school. In her quest to become the ultimate winner, Rosie discovers hidden depths to this strange island, uncovers disturbing lies, and finds herself torn between her wants and her needs. But can she have both?

Rosie Frost and the Falcon Queen is a fantastic adventure by Geri Halliwell-Horner. Rosie is at once our champion as we follow her difficult adventure into a strange new school. Her inner wants driving her to her goal, and her needs creating an opposing force. The multifaceted layers of school friendships are clearly portrayed as are the levels of frustration felt by those who feel powerless against the strength and confidence of others. The book races you to the final act and readers will be desperately turning their pages to see what will happen next. The promise of a sequel is very pleasing.

Curriculum links to: friendship, bereavement, isolation, perseverance, overcoming adversity, strength of character, belief, hope, determination and love.

464 pages / Reviewed by Donna Burkert, teacher