A delightful adventure reminiscent of Enid Blyton tales | Sunday Observer

A delightful adventure reminiscent of Enid Blyton tales

2 October, 2022

Title : The Adventures of Hanna Bruce

Author : Mariha Sharon

Mariha Sharon is a young Sri Lankan author whose first book is a fun and adventurous tale of a group of young children that attempt to solve a mystery that has even the adults stumped!

Mariha was just twelve when she wrote her first book and she also happens to be an avid reader, translating her love for reading into writing adventurous tales of her own.

This book is one of friendship, integrity, determination and courage. It takes us on the journey of fourteen-year-old Hanna Bruce, who studies at a prestigious boarding school for girls. Hanna and her friends, Anne, Natasha, and Grace, are quite excited to be taking part in their school’s annual horse-riding championships for the very first time, when disaster strikes.

Not one, not two, but eight of the best horses have been stolen… Horsenapped! Hanna and her friends are now on a mission to uncover the mystery of the kidnapping of her boarding school’s horses, and everyone’s a suspect!

You will meet the strict, but kind teacher, Mrs Ethan; Sir Francis, the pomp and proper art teacher whose ego is as big as… well as big as a horse! Then there is Mrs Marshal, the school principal who first gives the girls a chance to try and solve the mystery of the missing horses. But time is not on their side. The championships are just around the corner and if the horsenappers are not found and the horses not rescued, the entire event would have to be scrapped, but more importantly, Hanna and her friends want to bring back the poor horses, wherever they have been taken.

Another book

Mariha Sharon has accomplished something quite brilliant with her unique story-telling skills, but it doesn’t end here. She has another book, this one more complex, and can be classified as a horror story novel for children. So, for all you Goosebumps fans out there, her next book, ‘Becky Keene and the Fantastic Ring’ is one to watch out for.

Let’s talk about Mariha Sharon, who is now 14, and her love for reading and writing has grown by leaps and bounds. Her Alma Mater, Muslim Ladies College, Bambalapitiya, is surely proud of the finesse and skill in her storytelling. With her second book soon to be published, Mariha says she has three more books that she is working on. Where does she get her ideas from, you may ask, and the answer is embedded in her love for reading, a hobby that encourages her to push at the boundaries of the imagination.

This is encouraging news for fans of her work as there is so much more that we can expect from this brilliant young author.

Apart from writing, Mariha is a badminton enthusiast as well as taking part in programmes that improve her leadership skills and she hopes to continue her education, especially in English language studies, abroad. Her novels and stories inspire other young writers and she has proven time and time again that age doesn’t define an author.

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