Review by Rebecca, age 10, Charlton Kings Junior School, Cheltenham
I have never read a book by Kate McKinnon before, but I would be keen to now read another one. It was a really well written book, and I would recommend it for children for the ages of 8 and 11, especially if they like fiction books and if they enjoy characters who are outsiders and adventurous. The vocabulary that Kate McKinnon uses is very different to the ones you’d find in normal books; it’s descriptive and after reading the book, I felt like I had a really good picture of the characters and their personalities. I learnt lots of new words to use in my own writing. The style and characteristics of the protagonists in the story reminded me of Chris Riddle’s books ‘Goth Girl’ and ‘Ottoline’ as they were girls who people judged by their appearance and were considered to be strange by others, but they are intelligent and they all have a massive part to play in the storyline of the book.

I think the plot was exciting and built-up tension. I quite often found myself wanting to read another chapter once I had finished the one before. Overall, I think it was an amazing book. 

Review by Divine, Year 7, Attleborough Academy, Norfolk 
This book is about mad science the illustrations made me pick this book with the cover, recommendation and colour. It came instant death, extremely instant death, burning in the upper extremities, semi-instant death, burning in the lower extremities, permanent intestinal parasites, being shrunk to the size of a seed, sprouting plants from the top of the head and/or fingertips, cauliflower ear, crab foot and quesadilla brain. 

My favourite character is Gertrude because she loves her sisters, has a slug as a best friend and she is funny. I think that none of the characters really grew or changed throughout out the story. The most exciting or memorable part was when Gertrude’s classmates jumped back in disgust ““Euch! The devil,” Mrs WinterMacher screamed. She disappeared behind a heavy velvet certain, then remembered moments later brandishing a rusted medieval javelin and rushed towards the bat, poised to kill! Meanwhile, Eugenia (other sister of Gertrude) shook her head as she watched Mrs WinterMacher zigzag around the room waving her javelin “Oh grow up it’s just a bat,” said Eugenia.” 

This book made me think differently about lots and lots of things. I would recommend this book to someone who loves science because this is a book of Mad Scientists. I think a science teacher would adore this because it’s science after all.