The Riddle of the Frozen Phantom

by Margaret Mahy

An exciting adventure from Margaret Mahy - blended with her trademark surreal humour and writing that makes you want to read it. Sophie Sapwood, daughter of the famous explorer, Bonniface Sapwood, discovers a whalebone pendant hidden at the back of her chest of drawers. At the same time, deep in the frozen wastes of the Antarctic, the ghost of Captain Cathcardo awakens from an ancient sleep, trapped in the Antarctic on his ship, The Riddle. His three cries for "Help" travel through the stratosphere to three different sets of ears - famous explorer Bonniface Sapwood, renowned naturalist Corona Wottley and oily villain Rancid Swarthy - descendant of Escher Black who was first mate on the Riddle. All three parties immediately organise trips to the Antarctic - all with the same goal in mind (solving the mystery of the Riddle) but each with very different intentions.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

Published April 21, 2010

About the author

Margaret Mahy was a well-known New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. While the plots of many of her books have strong supernatural elements, her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growing up.

Her books The Haunting and The Changeover: A Supernatural Romance both received the Carnegie Medal of the British Library Association. There have 100 children's books, 40 novels, and 20 collections of her stories published. Among her children's books, A Lion in the Meadow and The Seven Chinese Brothers and The Man Whose Mother was a Pirate are considered national classics. Her novels have been translated into German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Italian, Japanese, Catalan and Afrikaans. In addition, some stories have been translated into Russian, Chinese and Icelandic.

For her contributions to children's literature she was made a member of the Order of New Zealand. The Margaret Mahy Medal Award was established by the New Zealand Children's Book Foundation in 1991 to provide recognition of excellence in children's literature, publishing and literacy in New Zealand. In 2006 she was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Award (known as the Little Nobel Prize) in recognition of a "lasting contribution to children's literature".

Margaret Mahy died on 23 July 2012.

On 29 April 2013, New Zealand’s top honour for children’s books was renamed the New Zealand Post Margaret Mahy Book of the Year award.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret...

Reviews

[Lydia Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an adventure book about a seasoned adventurer and his children who embark on an adventure to the antartic to find a lost ship among other things. Along the way they are challenged by cartoonish baddies and even encounter the paranormal. Its a fun book I would recommend for ages 6-10 or it would even be suitable to read out loud to younger kids because it has that kind of dramatic orator style about it.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mahy is always good fun!

[Eva]

:)