The Uncanny Express (The Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters Book 2)

October 15, 2017
Magicians are supposed to disappear, but this one may have a hard time coming back. Once again white sisters Jaundice and Kale would like nothing better than to stay at home darning socks and tying knots. Once again their parents won't let them. Having already been shanghaied by pirates (The Jolly Regina, 2017), the last thing they'd expect is to be swept onto a fast-moving train by Magique, a magician sent by their parents. And the next-to-last thing they'd expect would be for Magique to disappear, perhaps permanently, while they're en route to the Uncanny Valley. Soon they find themselves assisting illustriously mustachioed Hugo Fromage, detective extraordinaire. It's a train full of suspects, and no one is quite what they seem. The sudden turn the series takes into murder-mystery territory comes as a nice counterweight to its previous swashbuckling adventure. LaReau has a lot of fun with her Agatha Christie homage, filling her book to the brim with requisite gags and puns. The Bland sisters live up to their names ("I'm not myself until I've had my plain oatmeal and weak, tepid tea"), counterintuitively enlivening the narrative with their over-the-top despondency. Granted, kids hoping for further piratical fare may be disappointed, but the jokes and charming pen-and-ink cartoons (which depict a multicultural cast) will pad the blow. Move over, Holmes and Watson. There's a new detecting pair in town, and the name's Bland. (Mystery. 7-9)

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December 1, 2017
Grades 5-8 The ambitions of young Kale and Jaundice Bland to lead placid, uneventful lives are stymied once again. In the wake of a letter from their long-absent parents, they find themselves first swept aboard the departing Uncanny Express by a flamboyant magician named Magique and then, following her sudden disappearance, enlisted to assist a dapper sleuth, repeatedly styling himself as HUGO FROMAGE, THE GREAT DETECTIVE, in solving the mystery. LaReau develops this oddly familiar scenario in oddly familiar ways, as all the other passengers are implicated in turn and, once Fromage brings everyone together for a classic denouement, they all turn out to be other than they seem. Though the sisters don't have much to do here besides take notes, puzzle over strange dreams, and make occasional comments, fans of Dame Agatha's whodunits will enjoy catching the sly riffs. In keeping with the mildly gothic tone, Hill adds somber vignettes and portraits. The end heralds the start of a new unsought adventurestay tuned.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)