The Hidden Gallery

November 1, 2011
Gr 4–6—-Maryrose Wood's wolf-like incorrigible children are back with the well-composed Miss Penelope Lumley as their governess in another wild adventure (2011). Following the disastrous Christmas party at the end of "The Mysterious Howling" (2010, both Balzer + Bray), Ashton Place is under repairs. To escape from the mess, Lady Ashton moves the entire family, including the children and Penelope, to London where she intends to spend her time with high-society acquaintances and shop in pricey stores. Penelope's plans include exposing the children to as much culture and history as possible. However, everything quickly goes awry as a strange guidebook, a mysterious warning, crazy pirates, and a new friend enter their lives. The story is full of fun and mystery, providing a few new clues into the lives of the children, Penelope, and Lord Ashton. The real treasure here is narrator Katherine Kellgren who brilliantly voices this quirky cast of characters. Listeners will appreciate everything from the engaging but decidedly wolf-like voices of the children to the earnest Miss Lumley and the screeching hysterics of Lady Ashton. Kellgren's pacing is perfect, pulling listeners along breathlessly when the Incorrigibles find themselves in danger and slowing down for a hint of amusement as the narrator adds her diverting asides. Listeners will eagerly await the next installment.—"Deanna Romriell, Salt Lake City Public Library, UT"

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 15, 2011

The plot thickens but is still far from crystallizing in this madcap sequel to The Mysterious Howling (2010). Transplanted to London while repairs are being made to manorial Ashton Place in the wake of the last episode's disastrous climax, inexperienced but resourceful governess Penelope Lumley looks forward to shepherding her three young charges--still acquiring a veneer of civilization after having been supposedly raised in the forest by wolves--about the great city. Unsurprisingly, events quickly get out of hand. Except for the occasional self-indulgent aside (listing real but irrelevant 19th-century tourist guides, for instance), the narrative voice continues to develop, thanks to diversions into such niceties as the difference between "optimism" and "optoomuchism" and pterodomania (the study of ferns). When not digressing, the narrator keeps the plot aboil, stirring in vague warnings and (of course) references to a prophecy, characters with ambiguous identities, astonishing apparent coincidences and tasty elements such as a cast of theatrical (but also possibly real) pirates and a strange guidebook that furnishes Penelope with obviously-significant Clues to her own obscure past as well as that of the children's. Great fun, and it wouldn't be optoomuchstic to expect more to come. Includes frequent full-page line drawings, not seen. (Melodrama. 10-12)

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