Cosima Unfortunate Steals A Star
Laura Noakes, illustrated by Flavia Sorrentino
Harper Collins Children’s Books

You really must meet twelve year old Cosima, Cos to her friends and merely ‘number one’ to the thoroughly nasty, money-grabbing Stains, the sister and brother who run the Home for Unfortunate Girls; this is because she was the very first child they took in as an infant. The story is set in 1899 and by then Cos, has been joined by disabled children, considered unsuitable to be living elsewhere in respectable Victorian society, most notably Pearl, Mary and Diya each of whom has their own set of skills as well as differences.

The girls spend almost all their time unpicking old rope for the loathsome Stains and what little time is their own they devote to developing their skills and hobbies; for Cos this often means planning mini-heists for getting hold of cakes, with varying degrees of success.

When they learn of a stranger, Lord Francis Fitzroy, an explorer who wants to adopt all twenty girls for the ‘Empire Exhibition’ the girls suspect something sinister is afoot. So they formulate a plan; a much more ambitious heist than anything they have ever done before. Using all the creativity, skills and courage they have, Cos et al plan to steal the priceless Indian Star tiara from the villainous Fitzroy’s exhibition.

For Cos though, there’s something else at stake too: she really really wants to find out about the identity of her parents.

This is a crackingly good, thought-provoking story that presents historical themes, some of which are highly relevant to today’s British society: there’s the thorny issue of Empire, and the way history has treated differently abled children. On a positive note the author shows how such differently abled children can be highly successful. Like Cos, Laura Noakes has hypermobility spectrum disorder and it’s exciting to learn that she intends to turn this debut novel into a series: bring it on.

Readers around the age of Cos and her friends should read this.