The Lost Heir by E G Foley

I actually listened to this book as an audiobook.  Audible Stories have given free access to a selection of audiobooks for children, for as long as schools are closed due to coronavirus.  Sitting in the garden with DD2, I started listening to this book because it was her age-level and sounded like I book that I would also find interesting. Next thing I know, DD2 had wandered off, and I'm thoroughly enjoying this book.  I don't listen to books that often, but it has given me a chance to sit in the sunshine, doing my latest MosaiCraft project whilst listening to the story.

The blurb says:

Take a dash of Harry Potter and a splash of Oliver Twist, add a pinch of steampunk and a sprinkle of Victorian fairy lore, and what do you get? The Gryphon Chronicles! A rollicking fantasy adventure series that’s as much fun for grownups as it is for kids.

Strange new talents...

Orphan Jake Reed is a smart, plucky twelve-year-old pickpocket living by his wits on the streets of Victorian London. Lately, he’s started seeing ghosts—then discovers he can move solid objects with his mind! He has no idea why, but it seems to be the reason that a Sinister Gentleman and his minions now come hunting him. Suddenly on the run for his life, the rascally lad plunges headlong into a wondrous world full of magic and deadly peril. A world that holds the secret to the greatest question haunting him: who he really is. The answer leads the rough-and-tumble guttersnipe to a mysterious stranger’s mad claim that he is the long-lost heir of an aristocratic family…with supernatural powers.

But with treacherous enemies closing in, it will take all of Jake’s wily survival instincts and the help of his friends—both human and magical—to solve the mystery of what happened to his supposed parents, Lord and Lady Griffon, and defeat the foes who never wanted the Lost Heir of the great magical House of Griffon to be found.

So, yes I did enjoy this book.  It's a shame my children didn't give it a chance (they'll only sit still for watching TV or playing computer games) and listen to it whilst drawing or anything, as I think they would have liked it.  I know I would have liked it when I was a child.  There are 6 books in The Gryphon Chronicles, and though I have no intention of reading more myself, I thought the book was good.  It was very well written, with lots of excitement in the story.