Another series from a small publisher, also connected to a store catalogue of dolls, clothes and acessories, the Magic Attic Club follows four (later five) friends who befriend their neighbor, Ellie. She owns the titular attic where, when the girls put on the amazing outfits, they’re transported to out of this world adventures from going back in time to meet their ancestors to becoming snow queens. Generally, they’re individual adventures but there are four specials. Not all equal though.

1. Beyond the Attic: The second special introduces the fifth girl in their special club, Rose whom the girls intially butt heads at first. But after deciding to give her and themselves a second chance, they tell Rose their secret and get a total Night in the Museum adventure. Okay, there’s no dinosaurs playing fetch but its still a magical way to spend Christmas. I liked the lesson about trying to see past first impressions and the girls learning to put their strengths together when it looks like they’ll get trapped beyond the attic.

2. The Secret of the Attic: The first book in the series has a great set up, nicely introduces each of the girls while hinting at possible plots in future books. It just gets second because it doesn’t have Rose. What can I say, I like the rare indigenous represetation.

3. The Ghost of Camp Whispering Pines: While the first two specials were Christmas-themed, this is all about summer as the girls escape the heatwave to go to camp. That’s pretty much it, they do scavenger hunts, eat awful camp food and they encounter what they think is a ghost. It’s cute, but not very memorable.

4. Jewel of the Sea: This special felt completely unnecessary. With the others, you can see why it was chosen as a group adventure and had some interesting dynamics but this could have easily been an individual adventure. I didn’t see why there needed to be all five of them to help a snobby British girl celebrate her birthday. So yeah, this comes last.