Music Festival Fundraiser: Review of Alice-Miranda Keeps the Beat by Jacqueline Harvey

Alice-Miranda fans will be over the moon to hear that Jacqueline Harvey has written yet another book in the series, Alice-Miranda Keeps the Beat. When it comes to Alice-Miranda there’s always lots of excitement, her keen sense of justice and readiness to help whenever she can often take her into dangerous and complicated situations but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

There can’t be many parents or little readers that haven’t heard of Alice-Miranda but just in case you need to familiarise yourself with this fabulous character then take a look at our review of her last book in the series here.

Set in the Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale Academy for Proper Young Ladies, Alice-Miranda and her friends are caught by surprise one afternoon when they spot some smoke coming from down the road. Of course, there’s nothing that can stop Alice-Miranda and her friends from rushing to the scene.

Mr and Mrs Abboud and their five children are trapped inside the burning building and when Alice-Miranda discovers that there are children in the attic, she plunges through the smoke in order to save them.

The fire has left the Abbouds with nothing, but Alice-Miranda has a great idea how she can fix this. She has recently been taking secret music lessons, so it’s no surprise that she decides a music festival to raise funds would be the perfect solution.

However not everyone thinks that this is such a good idea. The arrival of a new teacher and some differences of opinion mean tensions are running high amongst the teaching staff. Will the music festival solve all their problems? Can Alice-Miranda save the day and get the Abboud family back on their feet?

There have been 18 Alice-Miranda books prior to this, and Jacqueline Harvey shows no signs of slowing down so you can be assured there will always be another in the works for your 7+ reader. She also has a wonderful website here and newsletter that you can sign up to and there are lots of extra resources available to parents, teachers and children there too!

Make sure you look out for author events at your local bookshop as when Jacqueline Harvey isn’t writing she’s out and about meeting her young fans. Parents can also listen to the podcast we recorded with her earlier this year here and for older children check out our review for Kensy and Max here.

Purchase a copy of Alice-Miranda Keeps the Beat by Jacqueline Harvey

Jacqueline Harvey worked in schools for many years but has had a passion for storytelling since she was a child.

She is the author of the popular Alice-Miranda and Clementine Rose series, which have sold over one million copies in Australia alone. Her books have received numerous short-listings and awards while her picture book, The Sound of the Sea, was a CBCA Honour Book.

Jacqueline speaks to thousands of young people at schools and festivals around the world, and says the characters in her books are often made up of the best bits of children she’s met over the years. While she is not a twin, like Kensy and Max she does have excellent powers of observation and has always thought she’d make a great spy.

Jacqueline lives in Sydney and is currently working on more Kensy and Max, Alice-Miranda and Clementine Rose adventures.