School has started, and secrets and adventures await Binny and her family in this delightful sequel to Binny for Short, which Publishers Weekly called “a well-crafted story that balances moments of hilarity with poignancy” (starred review).

Binny’s blissful summer is over and school is beginning. And it’s horrible. From the awful secondhand uniforms to the stuck-up kids, who call her a grockle, Binny hates everything about school and the kids who torment her.

When a storm damages the roof of their home, Binny and her family must move to a rental home out in the country. Binny, her sensible older sister Clem, and her rambunctious brother James (and his chickens) begin adjusting to a new household. Then one of James’s beloved chickens vanishes. What kind of creature is lurking in the undergrowth? And does it need Binny’s protection?

Brilliantly written and full of heart, this humorous story is interwoven with the adventures of three children from 1913—Ed, Peter, and Clary—who lived at the house previously. The stories of both sets of children come together as Binny discovers that secrets in the past and the present have connections she never suspected.

About The Author

Photograph by Bella McKay

Hilary McKay

Hilary McKay is the award-winning author of The Time of Green Magic (which received five starred reviews), The Skylarks’ War (which was a Boston Globe Best Book and received three starred reviews), Binny Bewitched (which was a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year and received two starred reviews), Binny in Secret (which received three starred reviews), Binny for Short (which received four starred reviews), and six novels about the Casson family: Saffy’s Angel, Indigo’s Star, Permanent Rose, Caddy Ever After, Forever Rose, and Caddy’s World. She is also the author of The Swallows’ Flight, Rosa by Starlight, and Wishing for Tomorrow, the sequel to Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess. Hilary lives with her family in Derbyshire, England. Visit her at HilaryMcKay.co.uk.

About The Illustrator

Micah Player

Product Details

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books (June 16, 2015)
Length: 208 pages
ISBN13: 9781442482807
Ages: 8 - 12
Lexile ® 680L The Lexile reading levels have been certified by the Lexile developer, MetaMetrics®

Raves and Reviews

"With masterful comic timing McKay spins a whirl of horrifying yet hilarious admissions, mishaps, tart exchanges, and domestic tempests, as well as profoundly affecting discoveries and epiphanies, around her intense, sensitive, impulsive protagonist...There's never a dull moment in the Cornwallis household—nor one not rich with love and laughter."

– Kirkus Reviews, starred review

*"The writing is gorgeous, clear as water; the characters vivid and lively; the story so real each moment of loss, fear, delight and love absolutely visceral."

– Kirkus Reviews, starred review, on Binny for Short

* "Fans of McKay's Casson books will warmly welcome the delightful and eccentric Cornwallis family... the humorous and poignant interactions among Binny's caring older sister, independent younger brother, and insightful mother are the heart of the novel."

– Publisher's Weekly, starred review, on Binny for Short

*"McKay continues to enthrall readers with her vigorous blend of screwball comedy and heartfelt emotion."

– Horn Book, Starred Review

"Binny is wonderful to spend time with, and putting down the book is like leaving a wonderfully comforting, very British setting filled with good friends."

– School Library Journal

*"McKay continues to enthrall readers with her vigorous blend of screwball comedy and heartfelt emotion."

– The Horn Book, starred review

*"Even those unfamiliar with Binny’s first outing can pick up the thread here, and the mix of history, mystery, and sympathetic everyday-life story will captivate a wide variety of young readers."

– BCCB, *STARRED Review*, September 2015