This is an utterly delicious read in so many ways. On one level, it’s rich in everyday realism. On another, it’s full of impossible, thrilling but always believable happenings.

Janie is a clever girl at a privileged American school. One day, her science experiment, a simple way to desalinate water, is stolen, and she believes that the culprit is one of the parents – the blustery mining tycoon Mr Magnusson. To get it back, Janie contacts friends she has not seen for two years: Benjamin and his father, and Pip and Jin Lo, all of whom were party to Janie’s adventures in Maile Meloy’s previous novel, The Apothecary.

Benjamin, who has never stopped thinking of Janie, has been working on a sort of telepathic powder that allows a person to see through another’s eyes for a brief period, even on the other side of the world. He and Jin Lo also know the powers of the Avian Elixir, which facilitates transformation into a bird but is uncomfortably unstable.

Mr Magnusson is mining an island in the Pacific but that’s just the half of it, and The Apprentices moves from the US through to England through to war-torn Vietnam, as well as the idyllic but ravaged Pacific Islands themselves. The story is compelling and culturally rich, and, above all, the young characters are courageous, resourceful and fiercely loyal to each other.

The Apprentices stands on its own and you don’t need to have read The Apothecary, the first book in this series, to enjoy this one (although of course both are well worth reading). Recommended for imaginative readers aged 11 to adult.

Personally, I can’t wait for the next one.

Kathy Kozlowski