The setting of an English all-girls boarding school also allows for a wide range of female voices to be heard. In fact, across the whole series, the number of male characters with speaking parts can almost be counted on one hand compared with the dozens of female characters—I’m pretty sure the series would actually fail a reverse Bechdel Test until the final installment. Scarlet and Ivy is a series that focuses on two twin sisters and their adventures at Rookwood School.

Scarlet and Ivy is a middle-grade series of six books, the latest one (and last in the series) was released in January 2019. The books follow the adventures of Scarlet and Ivy Grey, thirteen-year-old twins who attend Rookwood School, an English boarding school in the 1930s. Throughout the books, we get to know the girls and their family, along with their friends, and the teachers at the school as they solve a series of mysteries. Other than book one, The Lost Twin, the books are told in chapters that alternate between the perspectives of the two girls. As for Rose’s character, she is quite different to the other girls—she is very shy, she struggles with speech and learning (often being selectively mute), and has a special interest in horses. Her differences wouldn’t be well understood in those days, but I wanted to show that she could be an important part of the group, too.

Publication Order of Scarlet and Ivy Books

SC: I am definitely more like Ivy, I think. I am quite shy and bookish but have the occasional urge to have fun and go on adventures! But I have to say that Scarlet is my favorite twin to write as I sort of live vicariously through her. She isn’t afraid to stand up for herself and loves getting in all sorts of trouble. Meet thirteen-year-old Agatha Oddly – a bold, determined heroine, and the star of a stylish new detective series. Scarlet and Ivy Series 6 Books Collection Set by Sophie Cleverly (The Lost Twin,The Whispers in the Walls,The Dance in the Dark,The Lights Under the Lake,The Curse in the Candlelight,The Last Secret)

Monday, 24 May, 11.32 a.m. Ted and Kat watch their cousin Salim get on board the London Eye. He turns and waves and the pod rises from the ground.

Interview With the Author

SC: Mostly my terrible jokes… I often have silly jokes that my editors don’t get and tell me to take out. (Sometimes I don’t listen!) But at least I keep myself amused when writing. Scarlet and Ivy” is a series of young adult novels by American author Sophie Cleverly. The first novel of the series was “The Lost Twin” a highly popular and critically acclaimed novel that was such a success that it spawned an entire novel series that is still ongoing. Sophie Cleverly was born in 1989 in Bath, a small town in Maine. Growing up, she was very much interested in children’s literature and read the likes of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett who incidentally write both children and adult literature. Her “Scarlet and Ivy” series has been greatly inspired by “The Graveyard Book” and “Coraline” by Gaiman and “Tiffany Aching” by Pratchett. What she especially liked about these novels was that they were beautiful, sad, scary, and funny all at the same time. She was quite the reader and would visit the city library and borrow as many books as she could to read during the week. In addition to these, she would also take as many books as she could from the older classes bookshelves, as she had already read all the books in her class. It is not surprising that her novels have been compared to Nancy Drew as she absolutely loved to read the likes of The Famous Five, Nancy Drew, The Baby Sitters Club and Goosebumps. Of these series she collected and read nearly every title. Aside from detective fiction she also read a lot of mystery novels which made her believe that she wanted to become a mystery author when she grew up. The first gripping, Agatha Christie-style mystery starring a brilliant new double act: feisty, funny schoolgirl detectives, Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong.

GM: Which was your favorite twin to write and do you feel like you identify with one more than the other? Any issues with the book list you are seeing? Or is there an author or series we don’t have? Let me know! I was able to get in touch with the author of Scarlet and Ivy, Sophie Cleverly, to ask her some questions about the series and her plans for the future. When Friday Barnes solves a bank robbery, she uses the reward money to send herself to Highcrest Academy, the most exclusive boarding school in the country--and discovers it's a hotbed of crime! I really loved this book. The twins are staying at the school and Scarlet wants to be the main part in the Snow White Ballet. Then strange things star...SC: There were so many that were really fun to write—particularly the school trip scenes in The Lights Under The Lake and the Halloween ones in The Curse in the Candlelight. But I think my favorite was the letter that the twins find from their mother. I really felt as if she were writing through me—and I cried a lot! Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are taking a holiday on the world-famous Orient Express - and it's clear that each of their fellow first-class passengers has something to hide. As always, there are facts to be learned and loads of puns and playful language to entertain readers. This is another winner, 'for real and absolute positive.'" -- SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL The first unputdownable mystery in the thrilling and bestselling SCARLET AND IVY series, perfect for fans of MURDER MOST UNLADYLIKE, SINCLAIR’S MYSTERIES and THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL. Winner of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2017, and the British Book Awards' Children's Book of Year 2017