Delbert The Reluctant Spy by Marko Kitti (Children's, 9 years +, 10E/10E, short 'n' sweet review)

28th May 2016, CreateSpace, 150 pages, Paperback, Review copy 

Book summary

Ten-year-old Delbert’s world is grey and glum since his grandfather died. Everything is a dull routine, and all Delbert wants to do is stay in his room. What’s more, he has to cope with an annoying next-door neighbour, Evie, who has committed her life to being in love with him. But Delbert’s whole life is about to change when he is forced into a SUPER SECRET SPY MISSION to find a missing cat called Pandora. What seems like a straightforward job suddenly escalates into the stuff of real spy stories. Bursting with humour and thrilling surprises, this fast-paced, action-packed story takes Delbert and Evie on a wild ride with an UTTERLY SHOCKING SECRET at the end…

Nayu's thoughts

Since I greatly enjoy Marko's other work, Jesper Jinx, I expected to like Delbert's tale, and I did. I didn't expect to be crying on both the first and last page as well as several inbetween. For once this wasn't tears of joy. Bear with me, for yes I am giving a book I cried over top marks. Why? Well, it turns out Marko has portrayed the emotions of losing a much loved grandfather so well that all my grief at my favourite grandfather who died last year came flooding back. Given that I can struggle to put myself in a character's shoes if they are male, Marko has really outdone himself. I love authors who make me cry. And who make me laugh, which I did a lot more of than crying. 

 

There are classic elements which seem to be Marko's style; there's the unusual name, Delbert, which is like Jesper's (who makes a brief cameo in this adventure); a crazy older girl who I adore in an I can't believe she just did that way; unbelievable situations which can only be real because they are too mental to be faked; lots of misconceptions and misunderstandings, and lota of other stuff that you'll simply have to read to find out what they are. 

 

The secret at the end made me cry as I wished my grandfather could be in the same situation ever so much. There is sort of a crazy animal featuring in the book, albeit a little different to the animals that appear in Jesper's tales. All in all a brilliant new series which makes me laugh, cry, and be sad when I get to the end because I want to keep reading! 

Find out more on the dedicated Delbert website.

Suggested read

Be sure to check out Jesper's tales including Jesper Jinx and the Turkish Pepper and Jesper Jinx Goes Fishing by Marko Kitti (Children's, 7 years +, 10E/10E)