The Hidden Gallery

Gr 3—6—The Incorrigibles, three feral children discovered and adopted by the ridiculously rich Lord Ashton, are back in another series of uproarious escapades. While Ashton Place is being repaired after the disastrous Christmas party at the conclusion of The Mysterious Howling (HarperCollins, 2010), Cassiopeia, Beowulf, and Alexander head for London, under the care of their unflappable 15-year-old governess, Miss Penelope Lumley. Mysterious happenings thwart Miss Lumley's plans for a proper and edifying tour of the city, including a fortune-teller who issues a strange warning to the children, a guidebook that leads them to a hidden gallery in the British Museum, and Lord Ashton's twitching behavior during a full moon. There is genuine humor in Penelope's unruffled attempts to educate and tame her charges, and fun in the wordplay and the use of delicious sounding archaic words. The characterization and plotting are true to an over-the-top parody of a Victorian melodrama as one outlandish adventure after another climaxes in a riotous spoof of a Gilbert & Sullivan Operetta gone bad. The narrator occasionally addresses readers directly with asides and explanations on topics such as holiday fatigue and the Heimlich maneuver, which seems oddly discordant in the distinctly Victorian-style narrative. And while a few new twists are introduced here, the fact that so little is resolved will leave readers wishing for just a bit more. Still, the endearing Incorrigibles and their indefatigable governess are engaging characters, and fans of the first book will be happy to go along for the madcap ride.—Caroline Ward, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT