Rainbow Grey by Laura Ellen Anderson

Ten-year-old Ray Grey lives in the magical Weatherlands, high in the sky in the City of Celestia and where the Earth's weather is created. She is surrounded by Weatherlings with astounding weather power at their fingertips The Sun Weatherlings look after the great Sunflower in the sky that provides light and warmth for humans, and there are Snow, Rain and Wind Weatherlings who use their magic to give Earth its weather.. . . but she doesn't have any such magic! However she longs to be just like her friends, Snowden Everfreeze who is the cleverest Show Weatherling in the Sky Academy, Droplett Dewbells who sploshes any one mean to her friends and have adventures like her hero Earth explorer La Blaze Delight.

Then, after a forbidden trip to Earth through when a map in an old book, Ray's life changes forever. She and her friends discover a crystal which unleashes a power that hasn't been seen in the Weatherlands for centuries and she is transformed from Ray Grey into Rainbow Grey! With the help of her best friends and her exploding cloud cat Nim, now all Ray has to do is master those powers, dig deep to find her inner strength so her true colours can shine so she can save the world from a mysterious, powerful enemy who also wants the powers...

Even though this book feels thick with its 304 pages and thus a little daunting, young readers need not be concerned because it is packed with illustrations and other design techniques that break up the text and make it accessible and manageable. Like Monster Hunting for Beginners, the story centres on an ordinary everyday character who could be any one of the readers and her friends who are the sorts of friends everyone wants, giving it an appeal to those who enjoy adventure stories, fantasy and the traditional good versus evil theme. Humour softens the anxious, nail-biting cliff-hangers so it becomes a great read-aloud and with the sequel,  Eye of the Storm, due in March 2022, this is a series that will be perfect for a birthday or Christmas gift.

Themes: Rainbows, Magic, Storms, Weather.

Barbara Braxton