Saturday Rave: Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones.

'I do not know, Nirupam Singh wrote musingly, how anyone manages to write much in their journal, since everyone knows Miss Cawallader reads them all during the holidays.'

Today is November 5th, which in England is traditionally Bonfire Night. We light bonfires and set off fireworks to commemorate the 1605 failed attempt by Guy Fawkes and his companions to blow up the Houses of Parliament.

Witch Week is a funny, tremendous, terrifying book. It's set in an alternative England in the week between Halloween and Bonefire Night.

On Bonefire Night, anyone who can be proved to be a witch is burned. 

'The note said: SOMEONE IN THIS CLASS IS A WITCH.'

That's the first line of the book. I really don't think there could possibly be a better one.

Word To Use Today: bonfire. This word was originally bone-fire, because people used to burn bones on them. It probably lost its middle e because of the French word bon, meaning good.