The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) by Ellen Raskin (J Mystery)

The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel)

Ellen Raskin (Juvenile Mystery)

It’s a funny thing about names.  Some are long, some are short; some mean something, others don’t; but everyone and everything has one, or two or three.

Caroline “Little Dumpling” Fish Carillon has quite the backstory for someone so young.  She was married at five years old (business is business, after all), orphaned at twelve, and widowed (maybe…no one is quite sure) at nineteen.  Throw in twins, an unfortunate incarceration, a cross-country manhunt, and a watery clue that seems practically insolvable and you have a mystery for the ages!  With the help of the glub blubs, Mrs. Carillon is quite sure that she’ll be able to find Leon (I mean Noel).

The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) is the perfect read for any young detective.  Raskin provides readers with plenty of clues along our heroine’s journey of finding her lost love.  While her Newberry Medal mystery The Westing Game can easily be enjoyed by older readers, this book is clearly written for a younger audience.  The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) provides pages and pages of slapstick fun and silly good humor.  It’s delightful in its utter absurdity and endearing in its over-the-top implausibility.  Readers are encouraged to sleuth along with Mrs. Carillon and her twins—Tina and Tony—and are helpful tips and hints make for a totally immersive reading experience.

Throughout Raskin’s book, Mrs. Carillon is forever searching for what she thought she wanted.  Endlessly chasing an idea that she thought she needed.  American author Meg Cabot—best known for The Princess Diaries—wrote “Sometimes what you want is right in front of you. All you have to do is open your eyes and see it.”  Ironically, it was only after Mrs. Carillon stopped chasing a dream that she was able to find her heart.

Rating: 4/5

*Book cover image attributed to www.amazon.com

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Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman (J)

Fortunately the Milk

Fortunately, the Milk   

Neil Gaiman (Juvenile Fiction)

Mom was off to a conference so Dad was in charge.  She had given him loads to remember, but the most important of all was, “Oh, and we’re almost out of milk.  You’ll need to pick some up.”  You couldn’t very well put orange juice on your Toastios.  Or pickle juice.  Or mayonnaise or ketchup.  So Dad went to the corner store for milk (and NOT the fat-free kind because it tastes like water!!!).  After he returned after being gone an unusually long time, he plopped down the milk and told his two children the most unbelievable story they had ever heard.  A story about aliens and dinosaurs and time travel and pirates and ponies and vampires and…  Well, perhaps it’s best if you were to hear it from Dad himself because you wouldn’t believe it if I were to tell it.

From the imagination that is uniquely Neil Gaiman, Fortunately, the Milk is a story filled with charm, wit, and humor.  It’s a quick read that would make for a wonderfully entertaining bedtime story.  Bursting with unforgettable characters (a time-travelling stegosaurus inventor anyone?) and an action-packed race through time (literally), Gaiman gives us a tale where the universe sits precariously on the shoulders of a dad simply trying to get back home with a bottle of milk.

Perhaps the real star of this book is Skottie Young’s outrageously fantastic illustrations.  His pen-and-ink drawings are what you might get if you were to give Tim Burton’s brain a pen and a piece of paper.  They are as whimsical, outlandish, and over-the-top delightful as Gaiman’s story and both combine to give young readers an epic journey through space, time, and around the block to the corner grocer.

So whether you’re into science fiction, fantasy, comedy, or just enjoy reading about boogers and snot (those aliens are really quite disgusting), you’re sure to enjoy this little gem of a book.  Even if you do enjoy pickle juice with your Toastios…weirdo.

Rating: 4/5

*Book cover image attributed to www.amazon.com

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