Polly and Buster: The Search for the Silver Witch

Polly and Buster #3

by Sally Rippin

Is being best friends enough to save a whole town?

Polly and Buster have always believed that witches and monsters can be friends, but it seems no-one else agrees. With the witches furious and the monsters in uproar, their whole town is heading for a war … and yet no-one realises that a much greater menace lurks nearby. 

Can Polly and Buster bring everyone together in time to save their town from the biggest danger of all?

The thrilling finale to the much-loved Polly and Buster trilogy, written and illustrated by award-winning and best-selling author Sally Rippin.

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Fiction, Witches, Magic

304 pages, Hardcover

Published June 1, 2019

About the author

Sally Rippin was born in Darwin, but grew up mainly in South-East Asia. As a young adult she lived in China for three years, studying traditional Chinese painting. Sally has over seventy books published, many of them award-winning, including two novels for young adults. Her most recent work includes the highly acclaimed children’s novel Angel Creek and the popular Billie B Brown books, which became the highest selling series for 6-8 year olds in Australia within the first year of their release. Sally is Australia’s highest selling female author and her Billie B Brown books have sold more than 4.5 million copies in 14 languages.
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Sally is a popular presenter in schools and at literary festivals both in Australia and overseas and has a regular program on 3RRR interviewing children’s authors and industry professionals. She is a passionate ambassador for the 100 Story Building creative writing centre for marginalized youth and has mentored many emerging writers and illustrators. Recently, she and her partner co-founded Story Peddlers, a hand-made performance tent that packs away into a custom-built bike, with the aim of bringing back the art of the roving storyteller.

Reviews

[Liz Ledden · Rating 5 out of 5]

High on drama, full of feeling - a stunning conclusion to the Polly and Buster trilogy, sure to become Australian kids' book classics. 💚

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've quite enjoyed reading the Polly and Buster series. Polly is a loyal friend to Buster, she felt he deserved to receive his medal for bravery and was convinced that it would be a stepping stone to mend fences between the two sides. Buster is a lovely friend to Polly as well, eager to help her on her quest and selflessly throwing himself in harm's way to protect his dear friend. The Search for the Silver Witch may be geared toward younger children, but it tackles some pretty difficult topics like prejudice, racism, and the importance of friendship, and standing by your friend in a way that younger children can easily understand. In the story, there is a purple mist and a Gorvan, or creature that feeds off of the witches and monster's anger and hatred toward one another. To me, it appeared to represent the misunderstandings, biases, and prejudices that have been brewing between the two sides. Polly recognizes what is happening and understands the importance of getting the two sides to come together in order to conquer the beast once and for all. There are strong messages about what kind of person you want to be, standing up for the things you believe in and having empathy towards others.

*Thank you to Kane Miller publishing for the review copy*

[Christina (Confessions of a Book Addict) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars - a great ending to a wonderful series that's perfect for children who like the fantasy genre, but may not be ready for Harry Potter or other high fantasy novels.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sally Rippin has done it again! Written a wonderful story to capture the junior audience (interest age age 7 to 11). Friendship and family are such an important part of life and it is shown really well in this book. Polly (the main character) also wants to connect with her lost aunt and finding out about the past may be painful but she wanted to have that deeper connection with her family.

[Cat Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this series! If you have an older kiddo who loves adventure, magic, and fantasy you need this series! Polly is so brave and Buster is the friend we should all strive to be. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Thank you Sally for this gem!!❤️

[whatbooknext · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now at home again, Polly believes everything in her town of Blackmoon Coven has been sorted. But it’s actually even worse. Townspeople are choosing sides, Miss Spinnaker has disappeared from school, and Polly has been banned from seeing Buster.

Polly can’t believe all that she and Buster had gone through has been for nothing. She might be a special kind of witch, but she is new at it all, and needs someone more experienced to help them.

But her seemingly last hope refuses to help a town that treated her so badly in the past. Upset at first but resigned to the decision, Polly and Buster are thrust back into danger when they see a strange purple mist and hear the voice of the woman who started it all – the banished Mrs Halloway….

An exciting ending to this wonderful series for young readers not quite ready for Harry Potter but keen for a series with witches, magic and monsters. Polly is a likeable heroine and with her loyal Monster BFF beside her, they make a great team. This is essentially a story about prejudice, racism, and acceptance of one another’s differences, and finding a way to work through any tensions to live together in harmony.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fabulously spectacular, I loved it.
The Polly and Buster series was really good.
It's really interesting to see how Sally Rippin's books are all so different, because I did not really like Billie B Brown but I loved Polly and Buster.
I really liked seeing the differences in the books.
It was such a page turner and I read all of them in up to one to two days.
My mum said the lady at Harry Hartog recommended it, at first I didn't want to read it. But I gave it a go and I absolutely loved it, this series was awesome.
I wish there were lots of the Polly and Buster books. If there were I would read all of them.
They are such good books.
Book one, two and three of the Polly and Buster books are all great.

[Kerryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended. In addition to just being a great read, this series would be suitable for younger kids who want to read Harry Potter but aren't quite ready yet (or mum and dad say so, anyway), it touches on some similar themes in a wholesome and accessible way. This finale has plenty of danger and action and a wonderful ending! I was rapt as a nearly-40 year old without kids 😅

Ps. That hand holding at the end - i knew it! 😆

[Sandra Prosser · Rating 4 out of 5]

What started out as more of a task (why does Sally make everything so descriptive?!), has become a joy.

I have just finished reading this third and final book in the series to my six year old. She loved it, and I enjoyed how tough the 9 year old Polly was. I also liked how many strong role models there were in the story, although I felt a bit sorry for poor old mum!

A great kindness story, with lots of adventure!

[Rachel Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guys, this was just a great children's book trilogy and a perfect ending! All the lessons and feels and expected storyline endings and a couple that weren't expected! It was so great! I've already used this book while talking about feelings with one of my kids and it really helped. It was easily understandable in its messages without being cheesy... What a delicate balance that is! Perfect for my 8-year old girls and I to read aloud together!

[Tiffany Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can not begin to say enough good things about this trilogy. I read them with my seven year old, but I was just as invested in the story as he was. If you loved Harry Potter you will love Polly & Buster! These books were not only beautifully written to capture the imagination, the storyline is a great starting place to have discussions about prejudice, acceptance, equality, and the importance of kindness at a level children can really understand and relate to.

[AD · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a wonderful series about friendship, loyalty, courage and standing up for what you believe in. It's an engaging story that kids will love to read (probably over and over again) and leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy.

[Eloise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and it was my favorite book from the whole series.
I even bought the set with my Booktopia voucher because I loved them so much.
I would encourage everyone to read it.
Encouraging Sally Rippin to write book 4! :)

[Mandy Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this aloud with my 8-year-old daughter, who absolutely LOVES the whole series. It is a great book to broach the subject of race, equality, and prejudice and the lasting bonds of friendship through trials.

[Julie Garner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of this series and it’s wonderful messages about friendships and communities. The Silver Witch was a wonderful conclusion to this trilogy.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful family read aloud. ❤️

[Eltsiehowardgmail.Com · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm glad how it turned out and how they defeated the Gorvan. The characters were really cool.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cute story. I read it to my kids (2 and 8) over several days. They both were very entranced by it and demanded it every night.

[Amy Minner]

My kids loved this series!!! It's for youngins, probably no older than 10 or 11, but it was perfect for my 6 year old and 8 year old! I think we started the series when my son was still 5.

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a cute little story about a treasured friendship, being true to yourself, and standing up for what you believe in!

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book I particularly like more than the others in the series because it kind of had strategy in the characters part of the book

[Charli · Rating 5 out of 5]

The letter W is deleted from my alphabet!

[Allison Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great finale to this cute story. Very much parallels the civil rights movement and my 3rd grader picked up on that by the 3rd book!!

[Quinn Mis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was probably my second favourite out of the seiries

[Ally · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok - earlier books were better!

[Kaycie Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son is so sad the trilogy is over! We loved reading the Polly and Buster series together. Highly recommend all 3 books. :)

[Bozhena Levine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the conclusion to the series. In this book Polly and Buster save their village from danger and finally bring witches and monsters together. I won the whole trilogy from Kane Miller EDC Publishing and am immensely grateful to them for the sheer delight and pure adventure I had while I simply ingested this middle-grade series in one sitting. I highly recommend this series to anyone who wants to read a great story full of warmth and delight.

[Rebecca Oplinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review from a 6 year old: I love this book so much and I sure hope that everybody can read it. 💖 It's the nicest book because I like that Polly & Buster are friends. I only gave it 4 stars because I don't like that Polly didn't ask her Mom if she could go in the forest.