Ellie Makes Her Move

Spyglass Sisterhood #1

by Marilyn Kaye

A magical spyglass reveals secrets that will bring four girls together in this new series.

Twelve-year-old Ellie is ordinary. Absolutely, positively ordinary. Then her dad's latest community project makes their whole ritzy town, including all of Ellie's friends, turn against them. Tired of being ostracized, Ellie's family moves to the other side of the state to live in a rickety 100-year-old house complete with a turret--and Ellie swears off friendship forever.

That is until Ellie explores the turret and discovers an old-fashioned telescope--a spyglass. When she looks through it, the world she sees isn't the same that's out the window. There's a community center that isn't built yet and her new classmate Alyssa is flying around on a broomstick!

To figure out what the magical images mean, Ellie recruits other self-described loners, Alyssa and Rachel. When they see a vision of fellow student Kiara playing tag with a tiger and a donkey--they have their first real spyglass secret to solve.

The New York Times bestselling author behind the Gifted series and the Replica books, Marilyn Kaye delivers a story filled with light magic and heart in this first book in the Spyglass Sisterhood series. Each girl will take a turn at the spyglass, confronting fears and sticking up for her peers.

Genres: Friendship, Fantasy

176 pages, Hardcover

First published February 9, 2021

About the author

I was born in New Britain, Connecticut, and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. I also spent a year (5th grade) in Montgomery, Alabama, and a year in Ann Arbor, Michigan(8th grade). As a child, I always wanted to be a writer, but I had lots of other ambitions too. I wanted to be a teacher, a librarian, a movie star, the president of the United States, and a ballerina.

I didn't achieve all my goals. I never became a movie star, the president of the U.S., or a ballerina. But I've been a teacher and a librarian and most of all, a writer. I've been writing for as long as I can remember. Growing up, I always kept a diary. I wrote poems, stories, plays, songs and lots of letters. Writing wasn't easy for me, but it felt natural and right.

I've always read a lot, too. I was an English major at Emory University (I love Shakespeare), and I also received a master's degree in library science at Emory. I earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Chicago, and I taught children's and teen literature at St. John's University in New York for over 20 years. Now, I'm a full-time writer, living in Paris, France - the most beautiful city in the world.

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the start of what promises to be a well-received fantasy series, twelve-year-old Ellie Marks has recently moved from Brookdale to Lakeside where her family had bought a 100-year-old house. Still reeling from how her former town and classmates turned on her family after her father's advocacy for the homeless community angered some citizens. Ellie is determined to like nothing about her new school and remain aloof. But finding a telescope that lets her see things that don't exist yet or that capture the emotions or fantasies of others changes all that. As the year unfolds. Ellie brings three other girls into her circle, one that she calls the Spyglass Sisterhood. Alyssa, Rachel, and Kiara all tend to stick to themselves at school, and all three of them have some emotional baggage, just as much as Ellie. But maybe, just maybe, together they can find a way to navigate middle school while learning about themselves and each other. The slowly-growing friendship between Ellie and Mike Twersky is handled well as are the changes in each girl. Having popular Mike be an avid birdwatcher pushes against the assumptions some may make about boys like him. Despite her plans to not worry about finding any friends or being popular in her new environment, it looks as though Ellie will do just fine on her own terms, an important lesson for readers her age to learn. After all, giving up part of oneself or bending to fit the needs of others in order to be liked is problematic on many levels.

[Delphi☺ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Good Book"
. Elle started off as a popular girl in her old school . But when she moves it not that way anymore and She finds out what it's like to be in the Unpopular group what it's like to be an outsider with no friends . All of the girls Elle,Alyssa, Rachel and Kiara know what it's like to be teased for being weird . So they make the Spyglass sisterhood where they can be themselves and all of them know there friendship is worth a lot . Really good book about learning that their is a place for you even when others might think your weird. And Elle in her old school was always in the popular group but now knows what it's like to feel like an outcast or an outsider. Or to feel ignored by some other people .

[Caitlin Theroux · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC. The opinions expressed herein are mine alone and may not reflect the views of the author, publisher, or distributor.

ELLIE MAKES HER MOVE marks the start to a new series for middle grade audiences. Ellie has just moved to a new town after a scandal in her old home forced her family to move away. Now, in their old house and without much of an anchor, Ellie spends the first few days exploring the upstairs. In a turret, she finds a spyglass that shows the desires and fantasies of people in town, and when she sees a girl in her English class through the spyglass, she has to decide whether or not to break her vow to be a loner. Will she share her secret or not?

I'm all for a universal audience reading middle grade books. They end on a hopeful note, they include so many diverse characters, and even when the topic is hard there's a spark of light in the end. (Yes, that's different than a hopeful note.) But I don't think ELLIE MAKES HER MOVE should be classified as middle grade.

The prose was fine, the characters were fine, but the voice read like it was for 4th or 5th graders instead of 7th graders. The kids were immature for their age, and that contrasted in a really bizarre way with Ellie's voice. She spoke like a 30-year-old millennial in a 13-year-old's body. If any of you remember books like this from the 90s, where "loners" were the big thing and popular people equaled big mean meanies, then this book will bring back a lot of those memories. So while I think kids will enjoy this, I doubt it will be the kids this is targeted for.

[Eule Luftschloss · Rating 4 out of 5]

trigger warning
grief, bullying

When Ellie arrives at her new school after the recent move, she plans on becoming a loner after she had problems at her old school. But then she discovers something she simply has to share with someone.

I liked this one despite it's shortness.
We have multiple characters with different issues. There is the character with the two moms whose sister died which made both moms overprotective. There is the goth who comes from a family of local stars and has big footsteps to fill in. Ellie, the new girl in town, who was cut out of her friend's life as her father lobbied for a homeless shelter and the city they previously lived in turned against them.

Ellie finds a magical spyglass in the new home's turret, and after she makes one friend to share this with, she kind of starts adopting loners into their group of misfits.

It kind of feels like the book ends when it just really starts out, but I guess since the target audience are middlegraders it makes sense to split the story into smaller chunks so potential readers aren't intimidated by the sheer size of the book.

This book could be read as a standalone, though. Yes, nobody so far really knows what the deal with the magical elements is, but as a reader of magical realism short stories that doesn't bother me too much.

I recieved a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

[Suzanne Dix · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short friendship story. Light on plot but readers looking for an easy-going book about how to put yourself out there in order to make friends will enjoy meeting Ellie, Rachel, Alyssa and Kiara. I really thought this was going to have a mystery element to it but aside from wondering about the magical spyglass there isn’t much else to guess.

Grades 4 and up.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this one. A girl moves to a new town and decides to be a loner, but after looking through the strange telescope on top of her house she reconsiders and decides to befriend three other loners. Story is mature, engaging and succinct.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

After moving to a new town Ellie discovers a magical spyglass in her attic and builds new friendships. upper elementary.

[Cindi Proffitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute book for 4th -7th graders. I liked the concept of accepting others as they are. This is a fun friendship book and a quick read.