This is the second in Janis Mackay's trilogy of books about Magnus Fin, the Scottish boy who is part selkie.
Every morning Magnus goes down to the beach and spends some time with the seals. But one morning there are no seals to greet him. Magnus discovers that his selkie family and all the seals in the sea are being threatened by a mysterious disease. Magnus and his American friend Tarkin set out to investigate.
Meanwhile Magnus's cousin Aquella, a selkie who has lost her seal skin is trying to adapt to life as a human. She desperately wants to help Magnus and Tarkin in their investigations but is unable to go too close to the sea.
This adventure is as exciting as Magnus Fin and the Ocean Quest and it also follows the main characters as they grow up, addressing issues around identity and belonging. Tarkin is becoming more and more Scots (with liberal use of the word muckle in all his sentences!), while Magnus is totally adapting to being a selkie:
Swimming was a joy. His strength felt boundless. He twisted, he turned. Like a bolt through the blue he plunged westwards. He cleaved through the racing currents, rounded Cape Wrath then turned north towards Sule Skerrie. On he swam, the only seal in the ocean wearing a moonstone and a silver locket, which were now tight around his thick seal neck.
There are a host of well drawn minor characters in this book - the mysterious winkle picker; the helpful but elusive crab and the gang of angry fish with their faces scarred with fishing hooks.
Can Magnus and Tarkin find out what is causing the disease and save Magnus' selkie family? You'll have to read the book to find out!
Magnus Fin and the Moonlight Mission by Janis Mackay published by Kelpies, an imprint of Floris Books
Reviewed for Brighton Bloggers 2012 Reading Challenge.
You can read my review of Magnus Fin and the Ocean Quest - the first book in the trilogy - here.
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks, which take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
Hi Juliet,
ReplyDeleteYour gift bags you made are lovely and good when you can use materials from your stash.
I also enjoyed the reviews you gave of Magnus Fin and the moonlight mission and will try and get this from the library.
Happy new week
Hugs
Carolyn
They sound like charming stories! The author's named reminded me of my own name spelled "Janice". I had never especially liked the name until my dad had heart surgery some years ago. Our family was assembled in a hospital waiting room when a Scottish chaplain came in to talk with us. We introduced ourselves and when he said my name with his Scottish accent, I fell in love with the sound of it. I have been delighted to be Janice ever since.
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