The Grinning Throat
Kate Wiseman (2023)
‘My first thought is that it’s a pig that someone has lost to the river. Perhaps it fell off one of the barges that choke up the Thames. They’re a constant feature, toiling up and down, day and night, giving off black smoke that clings to the water. ‘ Hunger is making 15 year old Joe stupid. Orphaned and living in Victorian London alongside his 13 year old sister, Edie, every day is a battle for survival and a breath away from ending their days in the dreaded Workhouse. They scratch out a meagre living, mudlarking on the foreshore of the River Thames, for items discarded, stolen or lost from times long past and selling their finds to notorious dealers like Hempson. One day they discover something macabre. It isn’t a pig. It will change their lives forever. The Grinning throat is the first of a trilogy called The Mudlark Mysteries.
This is an intriguing tale of loss, despair, betrayal, courage, the power of friendship and triumph over wrongdoing. The River Thames ebbs and flows throughout the heart of the story, throwing out clues and swallowing up victims in equal measure. I became so engaged with the journey of this group of brave children that I found it hard to put the book down until I reached the redemptive conclusion.
Nicola White, Mudlarker and Artist / Book Review
The students are going to love it! It's delightful the way that Kate introduces us to more and more great characters as the story unfolds. The characters are all so different - the mudlarkers and their friends are so likeable! The descriptions of the 'baddies' enable you to imagine their menace and the foreboding surrounding them.
The story leaves you wanting to read about more 'finds' or even go and try mudlarking yourself!
Sarah Dufton, Librarian, Pensby High School / Book Review
The book in three words according to my nine-year-old son: adventure, friendship and comedy. He loved it and raced through it like lightning. Well worth the money.
J.Boon / Amazon review
Gangster School by contrast, is set at a Hogwarts for would-be infamous baddies. In this romp full of wrongdoing, two noobs arrive at Blaggard’s in their first year: Milly – daughter of a forger – and Charlie, a hacker with a secret pet dog. They are, perhaps, a little lacking in the villainy department. When they uncover a plot to take over the school, however, it takes all their scheming to foil the evil Pecunia Badpenny and her levitating, laser-eyed robot hellhound. It’s all such knockabout fun that you overlook the parallels to that other establishment.
Kitty Empire, Guardian Children's Book Editor / The Guardian
Life Challenges
- Grief
- Staying Safe
- Making difficult decisions
- Community violence
- Inequality and oppression
Themes
- Bullying
- Health and wellbeing
- Mental Health
- Friendship
- Independence
What's Great?
- Page turner
- Great characters
- Absorbing plotline
- Beautiful imagery
- Delightful use of language
