SuitabookCompassion towards outsiders
Minty seeks to help Tom, a mistreated servant boy, and Sarah, a lonely child targeted because of her birthmark.
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Book details
Helen Cresswell - Author
Expect an eerie, imaginative timeslip story in which Minty investigates a mysterious garden and tries to help two children from different historical periods. Its suspense is closely connected with family distress and compassion.
Book Brief
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Sign in for personalised guidanceExpect an eerie, imaginative timeslip story in which Minty investigates a mysterious garden and tries to help two children from different historical periods. Its suspense is closely connected with family distress and compassion.
Minty seeks to help Tom, a mistreated servant boy, and Sarah, a lonely child targeted because of her birthmark.
Minty's mother is in a coma after an accident while Minty is staying with her aunt; Minty records messages for her.
A sundial or moondial transports Minty to past periods, where she encounters unsettling figures, ghosts and threatening scenes.
Consider whether the reader would welcome unsettling scenes alongside emotional uncertainty. The book includes a parent in a coma, an accident, mistreatment, a child targeted as “the devil’s child”, masks, ghosts and frightening suspense.
This is a grounded book brief while Suitabook strengthens the analysis: some draft conclusions still depend on unresolved evidence.
Anything not established here remains open; it is not being treated as absent or safe.
These links show the original reading lists. Inclusion is not a guarantee of suitability for your child.