The Girl Who Raced the World – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Historical, reworked, travel, found family.
Children’s book title: The Girl Who Raced the World.
Children’s author: Nat Harrison.
Genre: Children’s fiction.
Published by: Piccadilly Press.
ISBN: 9781835871386.
Recommended for children aged: 9-12 year-olds.
First published: Hardback September 2025.
This children’s book is ideal for: looking at how travel, exploration and family life has changed over time.
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Our review:
Magnolia “Maggie” Appleton’s mother has recently died, meaning the young girl – now alone in the world – is sent to the dreaded workhouse. Having finally escaped its clutches, she knows exactly where to go: the home of Monsieur Jean Passepartout, whose address is on the letter her mother left for him, assuring Maggie he would be able to help.
Passepartout, however, has just started a new position as valet to Mr Phileas Fogg, and Maggie finally tracks him to his new lodgings. As her mother had promised, he welcomes her with open arms, and almost immediately, she finds herself caught up in the adventure of a lifetime! A wager, made at the renowned Reform Club, means Maggie and Passepartout are joining Mr Fogg on a journey – but not just any journey. This one is around the world and must be completed in no more than eighty days!
Suddenly, Maggie’s life consists of timetables, international travel, and secrets – none of which she has any experience of! The secrets revolve around a Scotland Yard detective named Fix who, apparently, has evidence Mr Fogg recently robbed the Bank of England – and who has stolen Maggie’s letter meant for Passepartout! Keeping one step ahead of the determined officer, the army of journalists following in their wake, and the extremely tight schedule Mr Fogg has arranged means Maggie sees very little of the countries she visits. She does make new friends, though – most notably a deckhand named Jack, an elephant handler named Devyan, and a fellow traveller, Valentine, who joins them for the remainder of their journey.
With time against them, the four travellers cross continents, oceans, and mountains – but disaster strikes as they reach home shores. Their journey looks as if it will have been in vain. If everything they’ve done is for nothing… whatever will they do next?
Our verdict:
This reworking of Jules Verne’s classic Around the World in Eighty Days introduces new characters and problems for those planning to circumnavigate the globe! While some figures remain the same, other important people, events, and locations are different. Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout are still the two main protagonists, with Detective Fix as their adversary – but from there, the similarities grow hazy. Fogg’s love interest, Aouda – who he marries in Verne’s novel – is replaced by Valentine, while Devyan, the elephant handler and a young boy here, was originally a Parsee guide. Jack Tarr, introduced as a friend for Maggie, is in fact based on “Jack Tar” (with one ‘r’), a generic term for a sailor at the time the original novel was set.
The story, whilst still focused on the journey, is now seen from Maggie’s point of view. The beginning of the book explains her backstory, giving her knowledge about Detective Fix that wasn’t available to the original travellers. Understandably, the whole experience is filtered through a child’s eyes.
The Girl Who Raced the World is very well written, the narrative flows beautifully, and even if you haven’t read the original – as is likely for most children in the suggested age group – it is still full of drama and jeopardy. The drunken brawls in San Francisco don’t appear, nor does Aouda’s storyline, which originally included her being prepared for sacrifice on her late husband’s funeral pyre!
Teaching points and book club discussion ideas:
- We can now fly around the world in 42 hours! Would you prefer to travel quickly or go a little slower? Maggie was able to stop and see some special places along the way – if you could choose just one or two locations to visit, where would they be?
- In a cross-curricular activity with Geography, look at a map of the world today and plot the journey Maggie took. If possible, find a map of the world from 1872 online and do the same. Now compare them – what part do you think was the most dangerous?
- The author of this book has successfully reworked a classic novel, and many other authors have done the same. Do you think this is a good idea? Would it make you want to read the original when you’re older?
- Do you have a favourite book – or maybe one you loved except for one thing? Which book is it? If you could rework it, what would you change?
- At the end of the book, Valentine has a proposition for her three travelling companions. Where do you think they would go next? Where would you choose?
Many thanks to Piccadilly Press for the review copy.
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