The Girl Who Raced the World

by Nat Harrison

Key information 

Author: Nat Harrison

Illustrator: Tom Clohosy Cole

Release Date: 25th September 2025

Book type: Chapter, fiction, adventure

Star rating: ★★★★*

Reader level: Confident

Age: Year 4+

Overview

The Girl Who Raced the World follows Maggie, a homeless girl who has survived alone since her mother’s death. Before she died, Maggie’s mum left her a final letter containing just one instruction: find a Frenchman named Passepartout. With nowhere else to go, Maggie follows this clue—and discovers that Passepartout works as a valet for the mysterious gentleman Phileas Fogg. When Maggie arrives, she is taken on as a second valet, joining both men just as Fogg makes a bold wager to travel around the world in 80 days.

Maggie is thrown into a whirlwind adventure across Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, travelling on trains, ships, elephants, and even sledges. Throughout the journey, she learns practical skills, gains confidence, and meets people who change the way she sees the world and herself. For the first time, she begins to feel what a family might be like.

But Maggie soon discovers a dangerous truth: the police believe Fogg has robbed the Bank of England and are secretly following them. As the detectives close in, Maggie realises how much she stands to lose. She must decide how far she will go to protect Fogg, Passepartout, and the fragile sense of belonging she has finally found.

Additional teaching opportunities 

Teacher Thoughts

The Girl Who Raced the World by Nat Harrison is not only a gripping adventure story but also an incredibly rich text for classroom use. With its fast-paced plot, global journey and memorable cast, it offers endless opportunities across reading, writing, and wider curriculum learning.

The novel follows Maggie, a fiery and determined protagonist who races around the world, encountering danger, friendship and mystery at every turn. It pairs beautifully with geography through its whistle-stop tour of countries including the UK, France, parts of Africa and India, Japan, America and more. Its reimagining of Around the World in 80 Days also provides valuable historical context and opens the door to discussions about classic literature.

From a teaching perspective, this book is packed with rich vocabulary, strong character development, and clear emotional arcs, making it ideal for guided reading, whole-class text work, or comprehension tasks. It also invites meaningful conversations about morality, honesty, deception, and the historical use of animals for human benefit—all highly relevant themes for PSHE and debate.

There are also excellent opportunities for cross-curricular learning, such as geography-linked map work and travel research, historical comparisons with Victorian exploration, and even biographical writing about Phileas Fogg.

Vocabulary

Similar books