Stargirl Academy

Sophie’s Shining Spell

Written by: Vivian French

Illustrated by: Jo Anne Davies

Welcome to Stargirl Academy, the magical school in the clouds! Previously a rather old-fashioned establishment, it has been reopened by its head teacher to train children to be modern day fairy godmothers. Fairy Mary McBee selects a group of girls: Lily, Ava, Madison, Sophie, Emma, Olivia – and Melody and Jackson who think they’re better than everyone else. The girls learn lots of spells – shimmering, starry, shining, sparkling, glittering and twinkling ones – which they use to fix problems and help people in trouble. For every successful mission they gain a star, and once they have six stars they will be fully qualified stargirls! It’s Jackson’s turn to lead a mission and she chooses to help her mum who is having a hard time from her boss. The other girls are desperate to do something for Sophie’s little brother who has nowhere to play since the local park has been shut down. Jackson isn’t having any of it, but by chance her mum’s boss is at the heart of the problem. Everyone is happy when he gets his comeuppance thanks to Sophie’s shining spell. The girls have earned their third star!

You can buy this book from your usual bookseller, or borrow it from a library. If you’d like to buy a signed copy, you can do so through Viv’s local bookshop – The Edinburgh Bookshop. You can email them here.