Ella is disheartened when her best friend, Zoe, tells her she is going to be attending the prestigious Eden College. But on a whim, Ella decides to apply for a scholarship and to her surprise, is accepted into the school! ‘Ella At Eden: New Girl’ follows Ella and Zoe as they start at their new school as years 7’s, completely out of the comfort zone, and all the things that happen in their first year.
I really liked this book, it felt authentic and was super enjoyable to read. The narrative just jumps right into it the story, without any stuffing around, and was easy to read. It has great characters, page turning action and mystery, as well a healthy dose of humour.
The protagonist, Ella, is a incredibly likeable character and I kinda wanted to be her best friend. She tries hard at everything, and is really quite funny. I think author Laura Sieveking absolutely nailed the age group and what girls of this age feel and experience and think about. I liked Ella’s quirk of being super informative and explains to the reader when she uses a complicated word, but it isn’t annoying or condescending, it’s cute and what she actually does to other characters in the story.
I think one of the strong points in the story is the great dialogue and believable characters. As I said, I really loved Ella’s character – she is a good girl, but also has a cheeky rebellious streak. I liked the inclusion of emails in certain chapters as well, and felt it added authenticity. The villainous character, Saskia, along with her buddies Mercedes and Portia (whose names gave me a little giggle), were the perfect amount of annoying… how dare she call my new BFF a charity case.
Ella’s home sickness also felt authentic, as well as the friendships that she makes. Laura Sieveking has done an awesome job of creating realistic rounded relatable characters. There was also plenty of action and mystery with ghosts and thieves and threads pulling the narrative along.
It had a satisfying end, and better yet, there are more books in the series such as Ella At Eden: Secret Journal! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and think it will really suit young readers – a great example of a quality middle grade book!
To get yourself a copy of ‘Ella at Eden: New Girl’, click here.
Thanks to Scholastic for sending me out a review copy of this book!
Title: Ella at Eden: New Girl
Author: Laura Sieveking
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: 2020
Ages: 9+
Ragamuffin Books 