I first read this book when I was 10 or so, and then re-read it countless times. Each time was like reading it for the first time! I lost my copy and just recently found one through Amazon. As an adult I still enjoyed it greatly and hope to share it with my kids.. I felt like I connected with Polly. The reading is easy but not too simplistic.

I read the first book of this series at age 12, and now that I am a grown man collecting the best children's fare, I can remember why I loved it. Polly Devenish is a very believable character who is empathetic to the tragic Sarah, a 'ghost' who never appears except in Polly's dreams while she stays with some relatives in an old country house. As Polly learns about Sarah and her cruel uncle Simon Stampenstone, she tells her young cousins the story as it unfolds to her. As she finds the evidence to support her dreams as reality, she endears herself to the reader. Unfortunately, this series never took off in the States, though it seems to be classic children's fare in the UK. Apart from the fact that "A Sound of Crying" is incomplete without following books which never were published here, it is an unusual story that should be appreciated at all ages.

This book was re-published by Puffin several years after its last print run under Andre Deutsch, because a group of children wrote demanding letters to the publisher after reading the book as part of a school project.

An astute move on the part of Puffin, I think. This is a well-crafted tale about a young boy who, like many children, is desperate to belong. With his embarassingly handicapped younger brother, he is teased by the local gang. In an attempt to impress them, and with the help of his brother, he manages to summon the familiar of a local necromancer buried in the village grave-yard. However, the familiar (a bat made from silk and an animal-skin) quickly develops a disturbing relationship with his brother and becomes dangerously difficult to control.

The characters are drawn with insight and compassion. This, together with the compelling plot, ensures that you are glued to the page from start to finish. And yes, the author is my mother.