Alex Evelyn, The Secret Wild, Walker Books Australia, May 2022, 304 pp., RRP $18.90 (pbk), ISBN 9781406399394
Fern has an idyllic life. Her parents are plant hunters who have taken their daughter all over the natural world to study plants, but as Fern gets older, it becomes trickier and more dangerous. Fern has only ever known life in the wild, but her parents send her to London to stay with her eccentric author uncle, and even though she finds a small plant who seems to understand exactly how she feels, she decides to run away to be with her parents.
But there’s something unusual happening in the city. Monstrously giant plants are taking over buildings and no one seems to know how or why. When Fern meets her shy, reclusive neighbour, and her beloved plant begins to wilt, the two embark on a mission to save the plant and accidentally uncover a fiendish plan they must stop before it destroys London and the world. Feisty Fern leads this cast of interesting characters in a race-against-time story, with plot twists, action and peril.
Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Deb Abela
