{"product_id":"the-spick-and-the-span-by-pil-van-martin","title":"The Spick and the Span by Pil Van Martin","description":"\u003cp\u003eImaginative, magical, wildly funny, and with a truly unique world, The Spick and the Span is an extraordinary, exciting fantasy middle grade adventure - perfect for fans of Jessica Townsend's Nevermoor, Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood and Co, Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle, and Terry Pratchett's Discworld.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003eThanks to many generations of careless magicians, the city of Helm is overflowing with magic, which has made it a very dangerous place to live. Leave anything alone for too long and it will transform into something else: your house will turn to gingerbread, your teapot will start pouring pond water or - if you're really unlucky - your floor will turn to lava.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe magicians liked to pretend it's them who keep the worst magical hiccups in check, but the real heroes of the whole sorry situation are of a wholly different occupation: equally well known but decidedly less respected.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe heroes of the city of Helm are the cleaners.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWard, an ambitious twelve-year-old cleaner, wants nothing more than to belong to the League of Cleaners, who will grant him the prestige and popularity he's been looking for all his life - if only he can pass three near-impossible tests. Struggling toward this goal with a team he doesn't trust, Ward's world is upended when his friend disappears and mysterious magic-eating monsters appear all over the city and start tearing holes in the fabric of reality. Suddenly his ambitions are the least of his problems...\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHugely funny and exciting, and with an incredibly imaginative, original story, The Spick and the Span is the unmissable fantasy middle grade debut of 2025 - you'll never look at magic the same way again...\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers Limited","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51888888054082,"sku":"9780008724788","price":19.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/7822\/1890\/files\/the-spick-and-the-span-by-pil-van-martin.jpg?v=1781922856","url":"https:\/\/greatkiwibook.store\/products\/the-spick-and-the-span-by-pil-van-martin","provider":"The Great Kiwi Bookstore Kaiapoi","version":"1.0","type":"link"}