Vivi Conway and the Sword of Legend - Vivi Conway 1 (Paperback)

Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2024 Younger Readers Shortlist

'The problem with growing up listening to bedtime stories about monsters, magic and myth is that you don't really question it when a lake summons you...'

The lake has been calling to twelve-year-old Vivi Conway. On the day she and her Mams will move from Wales to London, she sneaks out to investigate what is calling her there. Instead of a quiet swim, she finds Excalibur (much smaller than she expected), a ferocious monster (much scarier in real life than in her mythology books), a new friend (which she doesn't want at all) called Dara and a ghostly dog named Gelert (who can talk).

Gelert insists that Vivi is part of a magical group of children who share the souls of witches from legend and must protect the world from being taken over by the evil King Arawn of the Otherworld. Oh, and now she can magically control water.

With a little extra help from spiky Stevie and sweet-hearted Chia, can Vivi be brave enough to embrace true friendship and her magical destiny to help protect the world from evil? The first book in a fantastical series that combines a quest for magic and friendship with Welsh mythology and a pinch of science, all within a contemporary setting.