2002, Corgi
219 pages
Childrens: appeal for boys and girls, 9-12 years
Warning: do not drink anything while reading this. The drink will not stay in your mouth!
On first glance, I thought this would be entertaining. I got a glimpse of how entertaining it would be with the dramatis personae.
Titus (12 years), his sister Pandora (10 years old) and their younger sister Damp (14 months old) are living with their mother, Signora Baci Strega-Borgia in StregaSchloss when their father just ups and leaves. Just like that. No explanation as to why (although the reason is revealed in the novel). Baci, who is taking magic courses at the weekend to improve her magical ability, needs more help than Latch the butler and Marie Bain the cook can provide. Edible food is just the start. So she advertises for nannys.
Most have ended up in Tock the crocodile's stomach as he lounges around the moat. The 600 year old several times great grandmother, cryogenically preserved in the freezer is no help whatsoever: she only defrosts during a powercut to see if there's a 'cure' for her ailment. Multitudina, Pandora's pet rat has her hands full with ratlings (rat babies?) literally enters cyber space. Tarentella, the spider who loves lipstick scares Titus but proves a great babysitter for Damp. The latest nanny, Mrs Flora McLachlan (full name in the novel) has a great secret. She can do magic too - all with the help of a little box. For her current charges, she prefers to be normal. But, at the climax of the story, she brings out the box to save the family from their Mafia lineage.
The imagination here is incredible. Computers actually are live. The internet is a highway that rats, babies and children travel on. You don't want to be around when a dragon has severe tummy ache. Or when concrete is served as meal. Or when Pandora gets her hand on her mother's wands. Life is certainly not normal in the Strega-Borgia household.
This first book in a trilogy deals with the sensitive issue of what happens when parents separate (all is not as it seems and there is a HEA). The emotions felt by the children, and their mother's actions had me reaching for tissues. I nearly wept when Titus finally caved in and cried. The despair Pandora felt when she witnessed her brother not being strong, when the world caved in and her mother couldn't help struck a chord in me. People are wrong if they underestimate childrens books. Delve deeply into them, and pick out the messages that are a comfort for the reader.
Aside from Pure Dead Wicked, and Pure Dead Brilliant (the remainder in the series) there's also Deep Trouble, Deep Water and Deep Fear. I'll be checking this 2nd series out when I can.
This can't really get a cute rating, but it gets five smiles for humour.
Overall rating: 5/5
Information about Debi Gliori can be found here.
1 comment:
Sounds like a great book. I love the cover and the titles are awesome!
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