Facing the Hunchback of Notre Dame

April 16, 2012
Adult novelist Samson (The Passion of Mary-Margaret) jumps into the middle-grade kid lit pool with a fun fantasy steeped in classic literature. Fourteen-year-old twins Ophelia and Linus Easterday are left in the care of their aunt and uncle by their parents, itinerant lepidopterists who sail off to the island of Willis to study butterflies. In the home of their Uncle Augustus and Aunt Portia (also twins) the younger twins discover an attic. It’s connected to the previous homeowner, the scientist Cato Grubbs. When bookworm Ophelia uses the attic as a reading retreat, she discovers that life can imitate art when the character Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame materializes in the attic. Narrator Bartholomew Inkster brings Lemony Snicket–like irony to frame the story. Self-conscious chapter titles (“Welcoming the Character that Rounds Things Out”) and references to literature throughout the narrative make this a feast for middle-grade book lovers. Kids who like quirky adventure stories with idiosyncratic characters will enjoy a simpler kind of fun. Ages 9–12.

June 1, 2012

Gr 6-9-Fourteen-year-old twins Ophelia and Linus Easterday have gone to live in Kingscross with their Uncle Augustus and Aunt Portia, also twins, in their townhouse with an antiques and rare books shop on the ground floor. Exhilarating rumors surround the building's previous owner, Cato Grubb, a devious, mad scientist whose bizarre disappearance left all his belongings behind. The twins discover a secret laboratory in the attic, complete with bottles, potions, and interesting pictures on the floor. When Ophelia finds the book It's All Reality: Traveling Through "Imaginary" Realms in Five Easy Steps, the room begins to spin and then the living, breathing Quasimodo of The Hunchback of Notre Dame is in front of her. He must return to his world after 60 hours or he will be vaporized. Those hours go by extremely fast, and, despite the children's wish to show him around, they don't do much more than eat snacks. Ophelia discovers that she can summon up any fictional character, but only at special times, within specific limits. Although there is no buildup to the climax, the writing is reminiscent of Roald Dahl's style. However, the narrator often wears out his welcome with asides and definitions of words, which detracts from the flow of the story. At times, this fast-paced tale reads like an English lesson, but it will most likely find its way onto a reading list as it plays on a classic literary character.-Krista Welz, The North Bergen Public Library, NJ

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2012
Grades 5-8 In this tongue-in-cheek opener to the Enchanted Attic series, twins Linus and Ophelia discover an attic portal to Book World that temporarily brings a literary character to life. First up: Quasimodo, a disfigured but gentle young man who quickly develops a taste for peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches and other modern marvels. Serving as an unusually intrusive narrator, self-described literary fussbudget Bartholomew Inkster interjects (spoiler-free) thematic discussions of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and parenthetical definitions of relevant terms into his account of the twins' efforts to keep their metafictional visitor a secret. With help from a local priest/exbounty hunter and a new friend with a shady past, Linus and Ophelia not only track down the portal's inventor but also climactically save lives by providing early warning of a coming flood. In the end, Quasi goes back where he came from, setting the stage for an upcoming dive into Moby-Dick. Readers who enjoy such bibliophilic shenanigans as N. E. Bode's The Anybodies (2004) will take to this lightweight way to introduce major events and themes in a frequently assigned classic.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)