Children's Writer, Book Reviewer, Teacher, Artist
'We Made a Movie' is just as funny, charming and uplifting as its 2019 predecessor 'We Won an Island'. Both are perfect summer reads: joyous and life-affirming with enough mayhem to keep you on tenterhooks. My review of 'We Won an Island' here.
After winning their island from a billonaire, Luna and her family are surprised to hear that Gold Rush Properties are applying for planning permission to turn Wishnook into a kind of Scottish Las Vegas. Dad and Margot think its a great idea to transform the community but Luna and her friends only see greedy, corporate suits wishing to trash their way of life. So Luna sets out to make a movie to prove the worth of Wishnook so the developers will think twice. Problem is, Margot is making her own movie too and not everyone can perform very well on camera, including the goats...
This is a wonderful premise for a second book. Charlotte Lo asks us to consider what makes a community unique and whether it's always right to sell off land for development, even if it promises new opportunities. This feels so current and right to explore. How can towns and beauty spots modernise without losing their charm? And should they? Through Luna's hilarious and desperate journey to make a movie to capture the soul of Wishnook, we get the arguments on both sides. There are goats disturbing a yoga class, queasy reactions to haggis and cringe worthy auditions, accumulating in a court case exposing the true intentions of the greedy developers. This would make for a brilliant literary sequence for Key Stage 2: having discussions, writing persuasive letters and even writing scripts for their own movies about their local area. It's a fresh concept to explore and Charlotte Lo writes with wit, wisdom and Wishnook eccentricity. And Luna is our wonderfully quirky narrator to the events. If only everyone could be as innocently pure, caring and determined as her!
Charlotte Lo's second book is another to brighten your day. Grab a copy, sit back in the sun and have a giggle. All will be right with the world again.
Thank you to the brilliant Nosy Crow for my copy to review.
https://www.waterstones.com/book/we-made-a-movie/charlotte-lo/9781788008037