My choice of book this week was actually, indirectly down to the Primary School Book Club I'm a member of. Their monthly book is the second in a series. However, rather than diving straight in I decided, why pay through the nose for the second so quickly when I could lend the first from the online library service for free? And that is precisely what I did. How was I to know that fate was taking me towards a tale of Chuthuluesc (is that even a word) proportions?
Written by the man who once illustrated the front cover of Harry Potter and the Phillosopher's Stone, this book centers on the charmingly named Herbert Lemon from Eerie on Sea. An orphan who was 'adopted' by the town, he is given a post as the Lost and Founder in the Grand Nautilus hotel, which is owned by the mysterious and eccentric Lady Krakken.
One, not so eventful evening Violet Parma crashes into his world leaving readers with the sudden sense of impending adventure, as well as an overwhelming need to go down to the nearest sweet shop and pick up a bag of mixed sweets (or maybe that was just me 😂😂). She has come to Eerie on Sea to look for her parents, who curiously abandoned her in the town when she was a baby, twelve years before. Herbert, being the Lost and Founder of the hotel and the boy responsible for all the lost property and getting it back to it's owners, is apparently the only one who can help.
With a mad sea captain (sporting a boat hook for a hand) on her tail, Violet pretty much drags poor Herbert into one dangerous situation after another, but as more light is shed on their investigation they realise that they are but one tiny part of a huge story: the story of the Malamander!
Now they have to uncover clues, unravel the myth of the Malamander and decide what is real and what is not. Their lives will actually come to depend on what they find.
I found this story wonderfully moreish, like the bag of sherbert lemons or parma violets that I'm probably going to buy this weekend. The chapters are short and punchy, which gives them a very addictive quality. I will admit, with a red face that last night as I fell asleep reading it on my phone I actually dropped my phone on my face! It was at that point that I realised I would just have to put it down and finish it today.
The writing at first appears simplistic, it's written in the first person from Hebert's point of view so we are reminded quite often that we're dealing with a 12 year old boy (a very articulate 12 year old boy but a 12 year old boy nonetheless). But peel away the top layer and you get text that is peppered with complex words and nautical nods. There's a ship called the Leviathan, a lady called Krakken, a suspicious man called Eels; even the doctor is called Thalassi, which a little google research leads me to the word Thalassa, the spirit of the sea.
The chapters are beautifully titled, with one stand out chapter named A study in Violet (I detect a little Sherlock Holmes nod there). One particular chapter right in the middle of the book will be my go to for hooking my pupils. I read it aloud to my teenage son yesterday and guess what, he was hooked!
It's a must read for anyone from year 4 upwards as it is such an addictive story! One worthy of a reread and definitely one that lead nicely into it's sequel. As for my being surrounded by creature feature stories, I have my wonderful partner to thank for that. But bless him, he wasn't responsible for this, no this one I seem to have discovered all on my own!
Book number 11 and my book with a one word title.
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