Fairy Realm #9: The Peskie Spell (Fairy Realm, #9)

by Emily Rodda

The Fairy Realm series are wholesome lighthearted reads featuring a secret fairy realm found through a doorway at the edge of the garden. There's magic and mythical creatures and miniature horses that talk (because what else would you find in a secret fairy realm? duh.) It's reminiscent of Shirley Barber's gorgeous picture books albeit with less impressive artwork (Shirley Barber is incredibly talented). It's a good series for tween girls. I loved this series as a kid, they were imaginative and magical and I loved every minute. I'm pretty sure this series is what started my love of charm bracelets too. 

The Peskie Spell
This one is action packed. Jessie is anxious and jittery and positive that her feelings are being caused because something is going on in the Realm. When she goes to check she finds the door in the bottom of the garden is locked and she can't get through. Granny isn't supposed to be back for the weekend and Jessie is flustered with worry. She shares her worry with Flynn, Granny's cat and Realm protector and Flynn leads her to Granny's room where a secret Door to the Realm hangs.

When she gets there, it's obvious what the problem is - it's a peskie plague! Peskies are nasty little critters that eat magic and cause bad luck. Nothing goes right with peskie's around and the Realm is panicking because no one knows how to get rid of them. There hasn't been a peskie plague in over 100 years.

When Patrice, Maybelle and Giff explain the key to ending the plague lies within an old song no one can remember, Jessie realises she knows the song! They can get all the ingredients bar one, a sky mirror flower - which Giff has at least heard of but knows nothing about - so they head to the library to find out more. And are disappointed to find that the sky-mirror tree resides in Dally Glade which is days away.

Luckily, Jessie picked up the bookmark when the gang got kicked out of the library - it's a Ribbon Road - a super fast way of travelling to distant locations - kind of like a speedy travellator. They arrive and start walking only to find that they've been walking for hours and the sun is about to set. The dryads that inhabit Dally Glade have been enchanting them but were about to kick them out because no one is allowed there after dark. They listen to the pleas of the group and the sky mirror dryad agrees to give a flower to them to help.

Jessie leaves the gang to put together the recipe and returns home in time for Ms Stone's lesson on bad luck and superstitions. Unfortunately for Ms Stone Jessie brought back a few Peskies in her backpack. Everything that could go wrong - goes wrong and the whole class get sent home for the day. Jessie is relieved right up until she hears from the Realm that the recipe didn't work.

Rosemary is occupied with making apple cakes but finds she needs red apples instead of green. Her insistence that you need to be careful when trying new recipes, Jessie repeating the rhyme and flipping through Robert's sketchbook and the scent of a the sky dryad plant from a bright blue flower rather than a pink one all spark in Jessie's mind and she knows what's wrong with the recipe. She heads to the Realm and manages to save the day.

Before she goes home, Queen Helena gifts Jessie with a five petaled daisy charm to commemorate her visit. I really enjoyed this addition. There's so much happening and the fast pace really kept me riveted. I liked the way the mystery/quest unfolded and I liked the way Jessie worked everything out. I still missed Granny in this one though but everything else was great. 5 stars.