Twitch

Wr. MG Leonard

Ill. Paddy Donnelly

Pub. Walker Books (June 2021)

Age Range - 9-13 years

Huge thanks to Walker Books for kindly sending me an ARC for review purposes! 😃 

 Twitch has three pet chickens, four pigeons, swallows nesting in his bedroom and a passion for birdwatching. On the first day of the summer holidays, he arrives at his secret hide to find police everywhere: a convicted robber has broken out of prison and is hiding in Aves Wood. Can Twitch use his talents for birdwatching to hunt for the dangerous prisoner and find the missing loot?

 A fun, well-paced adventure that is as much a story about friendship as it is about an escaped bank robber. Indeed, it was the material relating to friendship that worked best for me. The storyline between Twitch and Jack was well-paced and believable, as Jack seemingly goes from bully to ally, and we're not really sure until the end just how much of that transformation is genuine. Scenes with Twitch's other erstwhile bullies are less convincing, though: an exchange between Twitch and Ozuru in chapter 16 feels more like narration converted into dialogue than a real conversation:

“I’ve felt bad about it ever since,” Ozuru admitted. “I’m sorry. I wish I hadn’t kicked you. I did it so the others would think I was like them.” He shook his head. “I suck.”

It's a minor niggle, and one which only really stood out for me because of the realism of the dialogue between Twitch and Jack. There is some wonderful characterisation at work here, and some genuine laugh-out-loud moments - such as when Vernon Boon (what a name!) and Terry Vallis arrive for the apocalyptic showdown in chapter 27:

“The muscles have arrived,” Vernon announced, flexing his biceps as they joined everyone in the peacock room. He looked at Twitch and said eagerly, “Terry says we can punch someone.”

While I found the level of detail relating to birds occasionally a little much - there's no denying the author did her homework! - the character of Twitch and his passion for ornithology are always credible. You believe unquestioningly that this a boy who loves birds, and who has consequently learned a lot about them. The usefulness of that knowledge in solving the mystery of the escaped bank robber never feels forced, and that was a "Chekhov's gun" trap the author could so easily have fallen into.

Twitch is a book about appearances. In this story, people are seldom what they appear to be, whether it be Jack, Billy, Nan, Tippi or Ava, and so we're never sure quite who we can trust. It all makes for an engaging, twisty tale. No surprise that it comes from the author of the Adventures on Trains series. If Twitch doesn't also turn into a series (and it should do), I'll eat a hat.