Book sixty-one: Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

I love this book!

During the last few chapters, I intermittently cried while Hen jumped up and down on the couch next to me begging me to "read, read, READ!"

The back of the book sums it up very well so I'll just use that text here to entice you.

In which young Ophelia rescues a magical boy, battles the Snow Queen, and saves the world.

Don't feel as if you can't enjoy this book without kids because it is a fantastic adventure for everyone. Oh what the heck, here's a moment of excitement for you…

She felt the sword singing and humming in her hands. It felt as light as air. As though it had a life of its own. She slashed with it in front of her suddenly. 

"Hold on one minute," said her father. "Be careful. I need to look at that thing again; I never saw that stone before…." 

But Ophelia wasn't handing it over. She laughed. Already the tears were drying on her face. "Daddy," she said. "I love you. Do you know the time?" 

"It's half past five," Mr. Whittard said. "Where are you going?" 

She was running out of the room as fast as she could, with the sword raised before her. She called back to her father. "I'll be back soon. I've just got to save the world."

The addition of the word "just" in that last sentence kills me.

61 books read this year. Hooray!