The Strangeworlds Travel Agency

Written by L.D. Lapinski, Publishing by Orion (Hachette) 30 April, 2020

This was a highlight for me! I was so impressed and excited when it came up on Netgalley. Proof copies are incredibly hard to come by sometimes and I was squealing with delight to get approval to read the ebook.

2020 is set to be a bumper year for children’s fiction and this will be leading the way.

The Strangeworlds Travel Agency looks neglected, lonely and forgotten. Jonathan Mercator is the young successor owning the shop and he is sarcastic, sad and lonely, until he meets Flick.
Flick has an incredible urge to travel the world, she wants to visit as many places as possible, but she isn’t sure how she will ever do it. Her map sits empty of pins for places she has been. Exploring her new town, Flick feels a sense of curiosity when she glimpses The Strangeworlds Travel Agency. Picking up a broken piece of magnifying glass, Flick can see glittering and a crack in the air. Jonathan quickly reacts and grabs the opportunity to welcome her to the Society. Here begins an incredulous adventure and the start of a new friendship.

Flick and Jonathan join forces and are on a quest to find out what happened to Jonathan’s father. They must visit each place contained within a suitcase. Once you open a suitcase, there is another world waiting for you, with people, currency and towns. However, you must be careful and follow the strict Society rules. Flick needs to learn these quickly or else they could become stuck in a suitcase.

As with any brilliant book, there are plot twists and turns, courageous moments and baddies! This book has it all and I so wish I could step into another world via a suitcase! Flick and Jonathan are fantastic, well written and thoughtful characters. We learn just enough to keep us guessing through this book and know we will learn more in the second and third in the series.