{"product_id":"9780008724788","title":"The Spick and the Span","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Van Martin, Pil\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eInterest age: from c 9 years\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 31 July 2025 by HarperCollins Publishers (HarperCollins) in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback | 320 pages\u003cbr\u003e129 x 198 x 23 | 218g\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eImaginative, magical, wildly funny, and with a truly unique world, The Spick and the Span is an extraordinary, exciting fantasy middle grade adventure – perfect for fans of Jessica Townsend's Nevermoor, Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood and Co, Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle, and Terry Pratchett's Discworld.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  Thanks to many generations of careless magicians, the city of Helm is overflowing with magic, which has made it a very dangerous place to live. Leave anything alone for too long and it will transform into something else: your house will turn to gingerbread, your teapot will start pouring pond water or – if you're really unlucky – your floor will turn to lava.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e The magicians liked to pretend it’s them who keep the worst magical hiccups in check, but the real heroes of the whole sorry situation are of a wholly different occupation: equally well known but decidedly less respected.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e The heroes of the city of Helm are the cleaners.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Ward, an ambitious twelve-year-old cleaner, wants nothing more than to belong to the League of Cleaners, who will grant him the prestige and popularity he's been looking for all his life – if only he can pass three near-impossible tests. Struggling toward this goal with a team he doesn't trust, Ward's world is upended when his friend disappears and mysterious magic-eating monsters appear all over the city and start tearing holes in the fabric of reality. Suddenly his ambitions are the least of his problems…\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Hugely funny and exciting, and with an incredibly imaginative, original story, The Spick and the Span is the unmissable fantasy middle grade debut of 2025 – you'll never look at magic the same way again…\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Darling Reads","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55457082966340,"sku":"9780008724788","price":7.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0827\/1265\/8244\/files\/9780008724788.jpg?v=1755012883","url":"https:\/\/darlingreadsbooks.com\/products\/9780008724788","provider":"Darling Reads","version":"1.0","type":"link"}