Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins by Liz Kessler

Title: Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins?

Publisher: Orion Publishing Group

Published: August 2014

Pages: 256

Rating: 4/5

I really enjoyed this book which I was very happy to receive from Orion Publishing Group via NetGalley in exchange for this, an honest review.

I’ve been a primary teacher for many years and last year had a child in my class called Jessica – and her surname started with J, too, but wasn’t Jenkins! All the time I read this story, I could imagine an older version of ‘my’ Jessica as the heroine of the story! It was really strange but probably added to my enjoyment of the story as it was easy for me to visualise and relate to events and characters.

Jessica is sat in a Geography lesson that is totally boring (hope it wasn’t me teaching it!), she’s away in a world of her own when her best friend, Izzy, nudges her to get her attention . . . Izzy is worried because part of Jessica’s arm apparently disappeared! The girls decide to investigate this further, finding that Jessica can make herself (and whatever she’s wearing) disappear. This opens up opportunities for mischief and I really love the shop mannequin episode! You’ll have to read the book to find out what happens, though.

It is when investigating why this is happening to Jessica that the adventures really start as they endeavour to discover why and how it is happening and try to find others with similar super powers. Together they try to work out how to use their super powers for good and to develop them further. They also encounter the evil villain and work with others to outwit him.

It is a delightful, well paced. adventure story that explores relationships amongst Jessica and her peers as well as her relationships with adults. I like how the children react differently to what the news about the powers and, eventually, find that not everyone is like they’d imagined. The characters, settings and events are described in a manner that will certainly appeal to children who are reading independently. I know some of my ex-pupils would love a chance to read this book – and hope there will be sequels to continue this story!

As usual, if I’ve encouraged you to want to read this book, it should be available from your local bookstore (and please use them or we could, so easily, lose them). If, however, you wish to purchase it online, it is available online from amazon, Barnes and Noble and Waterstones.