Magnus Fin and the Selkie Secret by Janis Mackay

I was delighted to recently have been at the launch of Magnus Fin and the Selkie Secret by Janis Mackay, whose Children's Fiction evening class I'm so enjoying at the Office of Lifelong Learning at University of Edinburgh.

In this novel, Magnus Fin finds out that someone has stolen the treasure that belongs to Neptune, King of the Sea. This is no ordinary treasure but includes all the instructions for how to rule the sea, such as how to make waves. Magnus believes that the strange kist that has washed up on his beach contains Neptune's treasure but he has to find the key before he can find out and then return the treasure to the king.

Meanwhile, Magnus' teacher Mr Sargent has become puzzled by the behaviour of Magnus, his cousin Aquella and their friend Tarkin. A chance remark in the pub about the children being 'aliens' is overheard and leads to a chain of gossip that leads to the paparazzi hitting the village. Well, actually only Billy, the tea boy in a tiny magazine, who wants to be a journalist, but that's enough for the selkie community to feel threatened.

This third in the Magnus Fin trilogy follows Magnus and Tarkin as they try for a while to be 'normal' to put their teachers off the scent of what's really going on. Of course underwater adventures aren't quite compatible with being normal so things soon get difficult.

Can Magnus return the treasure to Neptune? Will Tarkin ever see his Dad again? Will Billy and Mr Sargent learn to accept people who appear different? And whatever happened to that gang of angry fish with fish hooks studding their faces?

Magnus Fin and the Selkie Secret by Janis Mackay published by Kelpies, an imprint of Floris Books.

You can read my reviews of the earlier Magnus Fin books here and here.

Reviewed as part of Brighton Blogger's 2012 reading Challenge.

As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks that take you to other websites, where you can find out more.