REBEL BICYCLE CLUB

In a second exploit following 2021’s Knights and Bikes, the rebel bikers of the Cornish isle of Penfurzy earn their knighthoods by returning the magical Pendragon Cup to its rightful ghostly owner.

First, though, Nessa and Demelza—with Demelza’s goose, Captain Honkers, and the ancient severed head of Penfurzy knight Sir Calenick, met in the previous episode, in tow—must fetch the cup from the reclusive Lady of the Lake, escape a mob of shocked villagers after new kid Nessa slathers the jam on her scone after rather than before the cream (an unpardonable breach in Cornwall), break into a barrow hidden beneath a closed and creepy theme park, rout a trio of pesky boys, and like challenges. They demonstrate the value of teamwork and pull off rad bike tricks as they go. Variety in the fonts used adds to the book’s visual interest. The blocky figures in the frequent illustrations recall the look of those in the video game that inspired this spinoff, break up the text’s short chapters and enhance the story’s accessibility, and add to the humor of the hijinks. Illustrations show the locale’s ethnic diversity; Demelza reads White, and Nessa was previously identified as South Asian.

A free-wheeling romp with a distinctly British flavour.