Like A Charm - Elle McNicoll

Ramya has known she was different from a very young age and refusing to do as she was told by a stranger at her parents' New Year's Eve party in their London home shows us that in the opening of the book.  Only her grandfather seemed to understand what she was doing.  Unfortunately, that evening divided her family and Ramya hasn't seen her grandfather since.  Now, seven years later, she and her parents have moved up to Edinburgh where the rest of her mum's family live.  But when Ramya hears that her grandfather has died, everything changes.  Ramya goes to his funeral alone where she meets a stranger who tells her she has been left something in his will.  Against her better judgement, she goes to the bookshop where he tells her to meet him and he gives her a book that only she can read and write in.  It's this book, the enchanted form of the Greyfriars Bobby statue and Ramya's sense of needing to be herself that leads her to discover that there is a whole world of magical creatures hiding in Edinburgh, and she is about to become acquainted with them. But can she heed the warning to 'beware the sirens'?

I love Elle's writing and her fierce determination to put neurodivergent people firmly at the centre of her books.  All Ramya wants to do is live her life as herself and not be defined by her dyspraxia - she is a true hero in this book and her strength of character is an utter joy to read.  She has unique skills that allow her to see what most of us cannot and her approach should be a lesson to us all.  She is a role-model for us all.

I have a soft spot for books set in Edinburgh, having spent lots of my childhood holidays there visiting my grandparents so I was excited before I even opened the book, but discovering Greyfriars Bobby has a role to play in the story made my day - it's one of my favourite spots in the city and somewhere I have to go whenever I go back.  I spent much of the book being able to visualise where Ramya was which added an extra element to the book for me and next time I'm there, I shall be curiously hunting for the door the leads to the real Grassmarket!

A unique story that combines individuality with magic and adventure, Like A Charm was an unputdownable book and I'm not certain I'll be able to wait until next Spring to find out what happens next!  My class are going to love this book and it's definitely going on my March display in Waterstones Newcastle!