Magical Mysteries | SLJ Spotlight

Who’s the Roald Dahl of today? Well, filling those storied shoes is a tall order, but there are some excellent and emerging middle grade authors who are taking up the task.

Who’s the Roald Dahl of today? Well, filling those storied shoes is a tall order, but there are some excellent and emerging middle grade authors who are taking up the banner for ever-so-slightly subversive stories filled with quirky casts, heroic young protagonists, wicked (and wickedly dense) villains, and liberal doses of magical mayhem. Fans of Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, and The BFG may want to take a peek between the pages of these brand new middle grade titles recently reviewed by SLJ.

 

Gayton, Sam. The Adventures of Lettie Peppercorn. illus. by Poly Bernatene. 304p. ebook available. S. & S./Margaret K. McElderry Bks. Feb. 2016. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9781481447690.

Gr 4-6– Twelve-year-old Lettie Peppercorn’s “joint best friends” are the wind and a pigeon named Periwinkle. She is the landlady of the White Horse Inn, a run-down building on stilts created by her absent alchemist mother. Money is scarce, since her Da drinks and gambles awaThe Adventures of Lettie Peppercorny their meager funds. Lettie is alone in the Inn except for the Goggler and the Walrus, two demandingly irritating female guests, when a strange, evil man with an icicle beard arrives. His name is Blustav, but he calls himself the Snow Merchant, and he has come to peddle snow to Lettie. He arrives on a boat piloted by a young boy named Noah. The two women and Lettie behold the alchemical creation of snow and think it’s diamonds. Lettie now believes her money worries are over, but the nefarious guests plan to steal the Snow Merchant’s product for themselves. When Blustav lets slip that he knows the young girl’s mother, Lettie and Noah give chase, hoping that the sinister man might lead them to Lettie’s missing mom. The tale is peppered with enjoyably ludicrous occurrences: Noah has a green shoot growing out of his shoulder that provides nourishment in times of need, and Blustav turns his enemies into their last meal (Lettie’s dad becomes a beer bottle, and the Walrus’s head turns into a teapot). Bernatene’s atmospheric illustrations are full of intriguingly whimsical characters who add a deeper layer to this imaginatively odd story. Lettie’s loving determination to reunite her peculiar family, along with the bevy of magical twists and turns, will keep middle grade fantasy/adventure buffs hooked. VERDICT Hand this title to fans of Roald Dahl.–Diane McCabe, John Muir Elementary, Santa Monica, CA

Grant, Holly. The Dastardly Deed. illus. by Josie Portillo. 368p. (The League of Beastly Dreadfuls: Bk. 2). ebook available. Random. Feb. 2016. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780385370257; lib. ed. $19.99. ISBN 9780385370264.The Dastardly Deed

Gr 4-6– Picking up right where The League of Beastly Dreadfuls (Random, 2015) ended, this title opens as Anastasia crashes (quite literally) into her new home in Nowhere Special only to find that she is actually someone quite different than she thought: she has a different last name and is a princess. Outfitted in a perfectly uncomfortable wig and too many layers of crinoline, Anastasia is not ready for the Pettifog Academy of Impressionable Young Minds. It only becomes manageable when her Shadowboy friends, Quentin and Ollie, finally appear at school. The League of Beastly Dreadfuls is reunited with the addition of Gus, a halfhearted Gorgon whom Anastasia befriends. As she attempts to learn Echolalia so she can communicate with her attendant bat, Pippistrella, and learn comportment from her snooty aunt, Ludowiga, Anastasia begins to piece together the past history of her family, including the Dastardly Deed. It happened hundreds of years before, when relations between the Morfolk (her family, who can change into creatures) and magical witches turned from amicable to nasty. Anastasia’s grandfather was locked in a Silver Chest from which he could not escape by the clever and evil witch Calixto Swift. And there he remains. Even though Anastasia has promised her concerned Aunt Penny and her lovable Uncle Baldwin that she would not get into trouble or try to solve the mystery of the Dastardly Deed, she greatly misses her father (who was evidently not a boring vacuum salesman, but a prince who had the unusual ability to transform into a guinea pig) and might have to break her promise. She begins to realize that locating the Silver Hammer and the Silver Chest that contains her grandfather might be the only way to find her father. The League of Beastly Dreadfuls is called into action. Dangerous and secret adventures ensue: bats are put to sleep, strange dreams are entered, mirror twins are discovered, mice are released (and used for science experiments), zero gravity chambers are visited, Wish Hags are discovered (and released), and dream bugs are eaten. With the creation of a different world and the addition of new, and somewhat strange, characters, this adventure is as exciting as the first. The same narrator who speaks to readers is back and adds a sarcastic and warning tone to the book. Black-and-white illustrations are sprinkled throughout. VERDICT A series that is worth continuing (or starting) and that is Something Special.–Clare A. Dombrowski, Amesbury Public Library, MA

Jennings, Garth. The Deadly 7. illus. by Garth Jennings. 352p. Farrar. Apr. 2016. Tr $13.99. ISBN 9781250052759.The Deadly 7

Gr 4-6 –Delightful and inventive, this original story entertains at every turn. On the face of it, Nelson Green seems to be an average 11-year-old Londoner, but then his 16-year-old sister, Celeste, goes missing in Spain, and he worries that it happened because she gave him her lucky necklace. When his parents leave to help search for Celeste, Nelson is sent to stay with his eccentric Uncle Pogo, who, following a devastating accident, gave up on being a rugby player and now plies his trade as a most unusual plumber. The resourceful Pogo has made his own ingenious prosthetic leg that is outfitted with multiple gadgets including a fully functioning phone. Working at the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral, he enlists Nelson’s help to crawl into a tiny room to fix a plumbing issue. While fixing the pipe, Nelson loses his balance and falls backward onto a table covered in metal spikes. Little does he know, but when he fell on the table, he activated the seven copper test tubes hidden beneath the table and what was in the test tubes is now alive and growing. The contents bubble over, and some strange and horrible-looking creatures come to life. Luckily, the seven little monsters are of the helpful, friendly variety. They and Nelson embark on a wild and wacky adventure to get Celeste back. Hilarious, madcap action combined with rich language will keep readers rapidly turning pages. Pen-and-ink sketches supplement this highly imaginative book that is part mystery, part adventure, and total fun. VERDICT A great purchase for middle grade fiction collections in need of clever, laugh-out-loud fantasy/adventure.–Laura Fields Eason, Parker Bennett Curry Elementary School, Bowling Green, KY

redstarMarsh, Katherine. The Door by the Staircase. illus. by Kelly Murphy. 288p. Disney-Hyperion. Jan. 2016. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9781423134992.

Gr 4-6– When readers meet orphan Mary Hayes, she’s clawing her way up a chimney to escape from the Buffalo Asylum for Young Ladies. Miraculously, she succeeds—but only until a freak whirlwind causes the cruel headmistress to spot her out a window. After she’s brought back in and confined to a closet, The Door by the StaircaseMary fears that she’s doomed—that is, until a mysterious woman named Madame Z appears the next morning, wanting to adopt an orphan. Mary eagerly volunteers, and without much thought, Madame Z agrees. Mary’s new home is called Iris, a town with a sideshow flair. She soon meets a magician’s son named Jacob, a fast friend and ally. Before long, Mary realizes that amid all of the town’s razzle-dazzle, there’s also real magic. She’s astounded to learn that Madame Z is a witch, complete with a talking cat. But Mary senses that something is off, and, indeed, the groundskeeper reveals that Madame Z is actually Baba Yaga—a powerful witch who eats children. Her fierce sense of self-preservation still intact, Mary immediately starts plotting her escape with Jacob. But as the adventure unfolds, it becomes clear that Baba Yaga may not be the enemy after all. Marsh has crafted a sparkling tale full of adventure, magic, and folklore. It’s a delightful mash-up of stories and traditions; imagine Little Orphan Annie crossed with Russian folklore, plunked down in the spiritualist community of Lily Dale, NY, with a dash of Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away on top. VERDICT Perhaps not a story for reluctant or struggling readers—it’s relatively demanding in terms of length and vocabulary—but for those willing to tackle a rich and layered text, there’s much here to enjoy.–Amy Holland, Irondequoit Public Library, NY

Papademetriou, Lisa. A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic. 320p. HarperCollins. 2015. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780062371218.

Gr 4-7 –A single narrator, usA Tale of Highly Unusual Magicing alternating chapters, tells the tale of two 12-year-old girls: Kai, who is visiting her unusual but lovable great-aunt Lavinia in Texas for the summer, and Leila, who is spending her summer in Pakistan, her father’s birthplace. Kai, voted weirdest in her class that year, is a loner, overly protected by her mother and expected to practice her violin at all hours. While unpacking in the guest room, Kai finds an old book titled The Exquisite Corpse. Excited to read it, she is disappointed that it contains an odd introduction and only one line of handwritten text, a name: Ralph T. Flabbergast. Guided by some strange intuition, she pens the words “was a complete fool” after his name. This is her first mistake. Now, each time she opens the book, more writing appears. At the same time in Pakistan, Leila, who reads far too many romantic novels and is hoping for an “authentic cultural experience” in her father’s land, discovers the very same text in her great-uncle’s library. Leila sets out to read the strange handwritten story of Ralph T. Flabbergast but is soon distracted as a beautiful silver and green moth floats in through her window. Momentarily stunned by its luminescence, Leila forgets all about the book. When the moth flies back out the window, Leila is astounded to see a new sentence on the bottom of the page, “Wasn’t that beautiful?” It’s as if the book is talking to her. Back in Texas, Kai meets Doodle, a young girl out to catch the Celestial Moth, rumored to be almost extinct in this part of the world. Her adventures with Doodle and their subsequent search for the elusive moth, as well as Leila’s cultural gaffes around her family, lead readers on a rollicking adventure, complete with a suspiciously operated casket company, a (sort of) pet goat, and an obsession with Pakistani Idol. In the meantime, the story of The Exquisite Corpse unfolds, telling a tale of forbidden love and magic. Papademetriou’s tale is sure to please readers who love a fast-paced, clever mystery. VERDICT With magic and humor, this is an excellent addition to middle grade collections.–Carol Connor, Cincinnati Public Schools, OH

These titles are featured in School Library Journal’s December 2015 issue.

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