If you like Roald Dahl, check this out

The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones

By Will Mabbitt

Age Range: 8 - 12 years

Grade Level: 3 - 7

Series: Mabel Jones

Hardcover: 304 pages

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers (June 2, 2015)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0451471962

ISBN-13: 978-0451471963

Lexile Measure: 0750

 

Publisher’s Blurb:

Have you ever picked your nose? Have you ever picked your nose and EATEN IT? Have you ever picked your nose, eaten it, and, by doing so, opened a portal to a world run by PIRATES?

Mabel Jones has.

Kidnapped, Mabel is forced to serve aboard The Feroshus Maggot with the strangest crew you’ll ever meet. And the captain—an odious wolf named Idryss Ebenezer Split—won’t let her go until she helps the pirates uncover the treasure they seek.

Mabel’s voyage takes her across the Greasy Pole of Certain Death, into the belly of a whale, and underground to a decrepit crypt. And she does it all…in pajamas!

Read on if you dare. You are promised a most unlikely adventure. When Mabel Jones unknowingly commits 'The Deed' she finds herself swiftly bundled into a sack and carried off to the pirate ship the Feroshus Maggot.

 

Crewed by the strangest bunch of pirates you would ever want to meet and captained by the dreaded Idryss Ebeneezer Split (a wolf with a false leg carved from a human thighbone, a rusty cutlass sheathed in his belt and a loaded pistol tucked in his pants with no fear of the consequences), the Feroshus Maggot whisks Mabel Jones off on the adventure of a lifetime.

 

My Thoughts:

If you (or a loved one) likes Lemony Snicket, Roald Dahl, or Captain Underpants, this one’s for you! There’s very little serious about this book, but it’s a lot of fun in the way that kids of the target age group like it best. Silly situations, caricatures of characters, adventure, peril, perilous adventure, a treasure to find—it’s all here.

 Mabel Jones is plucky and resourceful as she helps the crew of the Feroshus Maggot find their treasure—which, incidentally, will open a portal for her to return home. (That’s probably the most serious element of this story, that Mabel really would like to go home.)

 Along the way, Mabel makes friends and continues to think her way out of danger.

 The ARC I received still had art to come, but the illustrations it did contain were fun line drawings. Likewise, there are some fun typographic tricks to keep young readers engaged.

 I loved the names for the various characters—Omynus Hush being my favorite. The captain is just a stereotypical meanie, but other characters have more endearing qualities.

 Possible Objectionable Material:

Nose picking. Cartoonish violence. Lack of parental presence. If you are offended by Dahl or Pilkey, don’t go here.

 Who Might Like This Book:

Kids from six to 106. You need a sense of humor and fun. If you think Captain Underpants should be removed from libraries, this is NOT a book for you.

 Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC.