By Olivia Lee x

Sophie Sapwood is a curious and adventurous girl who likes to explore things. She and her family are New Zealanders and she misses her mother who is currently deceased, She cares for everyone and is a friendly person, she can persuade some people such as her father Bonniface Sapwood to do things like take her and her two brothers, Edward and Hotspur with him to the Antarctic.

Captain Cathcardo awakens as a ghost from his death 70 years later when his first mate Escher Black (before The Riddle turned into frozen wastes) murdered him. He was stabbed. He was at first was a confused ghost. He is a hopeful ghost that wishes he is found. He was happy and adventurous when he was alive.

The pilot was told to pilot Rancid Swarthy (villain) back to Scott Base. He was worried because he didn’t know if the people in the helicopter could fly it properly. He was happy ‘cause he didn’t die from the explosion in the helicopter. Excited to get back to Scott base. The penguins can communicate to Hotspur (the youngest brother), and they are helpful because they help the Corona-and-Sapwood-family to dig out the igloo and help them out of the avalanche. They are protective of their little eggs.

The plot of the story is about this girl called Sophie Sapwood a daughter of famous explorer Bonniface Sapwood and she is looking in her dead mothers photos and things and at the back of the drawer she finds a pendant necklace and that she safely wears around her neck, then Captain Cathcardo awakens from the dead and realises he is a ghost and calls three calls for help, one call goes to Corona Wottley, the next goes to a villain called Rancid Swarthy and the last goes to Sophie’s father. When her father finally decides all the kids can go with him to the Antarctic after their nanny ditches them to do her own stuff, they meet up with an old partner in exploring called Corona Wottley they team up and look for a ship called The Riddle, after a while they find The Riddle and find out the secret of it and find the ghost and his famous logbook. You’ll have to read the book!!

"My favourite writing is stories and books that sound a certain way and where I can be in charge of the story until the very end. The pleasure I get from these stories is similar to the pleasure I receive from other people's books, but slower, more troubled, and more uncertain." That is something that Margaret Mahy said about writing books. Books by Margaret Mahy are: A Lion In The Meadow The Witch In The Cherry Tree The Great White Man-Eating Shark Beaten By A Balloon Fantail, Fantail And she has written over 120 of other amazing books to.

Why did you want to be a writer? I think it was because I was a keen reader. I think I wanted to squeeze myself right into the stories I read, and I think I managed to do this at times by writing stories of my own.

Margaret Mahy was born on March 21 st, 1936 in Whakatane and sadly she died on July 23, 2012 so she had 76 years in her life. She died because she had a brief illness.

The summery on the back of the book is…………………… “I’ve lost my pendant and I’ve lost my memory,” the captain said to himself. “ Something terrible must have happened. I must remember. It really is a riddle!” When Sophie Sapwood discovers a whalebone pendant hidden in a chest of drawers, the ghost of Captain Cathcardo awakens from an ancient sleep., trapped in the frozen wastes of The Riddle. He cries for “Help” travel through the stratosphere to three different sets of ears-Sophie’s famous explorer father Bonniface Sapwood, renowned naturalist Corona Wottley and oily villain Rancid Swarthy. All tree parties immediately organise trips to the Antarctic- each with the same goal, yet very different intentions!

Since I have learnt about Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the book The Riddle Of The Frozen Phantom is sort of like what Scott did. Scott made Scott base, the characters went to Scott Base, the characters found a ship and Scott had a ship, Scott died, the characters saw a ghost. So I think that Margaret Mahy found out information about Scott and put some of it into her book.

I give The Riddle Of The Frozen Phantom a rating of 8/10, because at the start of the story I didn’t get it and then half way through I had to look back at the beginning to get what it meant, but when I got it I really enjoyed the book and I found it interesting. I think that Margaret Mahy is a talented author and she has done well in her life.