The Misadventures of Mina Mahmood – School Trip! Written by Farhana Islam. Reviewed by Emaan, Age 8

This story is about three friends Mina, Mobeen and Reema who are going on a school residential to Shiremoor Oaks. They are all very excited until they find out about Bertie Blackteeth who haunts Shiremoor Oaks and is looking for a new body. After getting lost in the forest, aka Bertie Blackteeth territory on the dodgems will the trio be hunted down….

One of the reasons I wanted to read this book is because the characters are Muslim like me, and I have not read many other books with Muslim characters. I like the way that Farhana Islam has not been afraid to share her religion; for example when Mina said she always felt that she needed to read the ‘Ayatul-kursi’ I knew exactly what that is. But for anyone who doesn’t know, there is an explanation in the book. I also love books with mystery and adventure so this was a perfect book for me to read.

The author created so much suspense in the book that I could hardly put it down and finished reading it in less than a day. This book reminded me of my school residential, but I am glad that Bertie Blackteeth was not there.
I really like how in the book when it is night time the pages are dark.

My favourite part of the story was when the friends realised that Bertie Blackteeth was actually just a dog! I laughed when I read the bit about Reema having to climb up a lamp post because a dog was chasing her. I liked the way the illustrator has tried to capture the personalities of the characters in the pictures.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries and adventure.