I've had this book for ages, and I've started it three or four times, but it keeps getting lost. Like Moll and Gryff, the adorable gypsy-girl-and-wildcat duo at the heart of this adventure, the book is a bit of a wild thing, hard to pin down, and would rather be off having adventures than sit around being read by boring old me. And when I did read it, I flew through it breathlessly. Dreamsnatcher is a sturdy, pacy, tough-nosed but soft-hearted tale about a gypsy orphan plagued by a villainous witch-doctor who's hunting her for reasons unknown. Some of those reasons turn out to be deep dark secrets to do with her parents and strange powers and prophecies, but before Moll can do anything about it, she's kidnapped, and the key to her escape may lie with one of the people who kidnapped her.

Expertly crafted, this is packed with great characters and strange magic and nasty fights and sinister villains and good friends and loyal families. There are hunts and chases and riddles and secrets uncovered and hidden places found, pretty much everything you could ask for in a fantasy story for children. And now that I've finished reading the book, I can set it free for adventures of its own. No doubt it's climbing around the bookshelves as we speak.