This is my weekly meme celebrating amazing middle-grade books. I hope others will enjoy taking part in this too!
How to take part:
- Post a picture of the front cover of a middle-grade book which you have read and would recommend to others with details of the author, illustrator and publisher.
- Open the book to page 11 and share your favourite sentence.
- Write three words to describe the book.
- Either share why you would recommend this book, or link to your review.
This week, I’m celebrating …
Illustrated by Hannah Peck
Published by Scholastic
Favourite Sentence from Page 11:
Felicity Square – the very nice neighbourhood in which Malice’s family home, Malignant House, was considered a bruise upon the landscape – was calm and quiet.
This book in three words:
MISCHIEF, FRIENDSHIP, GRANDADS
Malice in Underland is a delicious treat of a story, perfect for this time of year. It is wonderfully dark, humorous and heart-warming and is a story which I devoured in one sitting. I’m already looking forward to adventuring to Underland again.
Malice Malign is not quite the perfect daughter as she does not want to cause the level of malicious mischief that her parents enjoy when running the The Malign Haunting Agency. In fact, shock-horror, but she likes being good and kind – and causing merry mischief! Luckily, she has her Grandad on her side – until the day he is disappeared – and she must adventure into Underland to solve the mystery of what has happened to him – and the other disappearing Grandads!
Will amateur detective Malice be able to uncover the mystery, recover her Grandad and find her place in her family? Luckily, she has some help from her Private Investigator Uncle Vexatious and her best friend Seth. This is such a fun adventure, packed with humour, fast-paced action and so many wonderful characters and places that kept me turning the pages until I’d devoured it in one very satisfying sitting. I loved the extra information about Malice’s family and the Underland Shopping Guide at the end of the story.
I adored Malice who is kind-hearted, determined, intelligent and courageous as she takes on the role of amateur detective and finds her way through the incredible world of Underland. I also loved her Uncle Vex who is a well-known private investigator, but who might not be quite as brave as one might imagine him to be – his reactions made me smile on many occasions!
The full and partial page illustrations are brilliant and capture the feel of this story perfectly. This is a gorgeously dark, humorous adventure filled with friendship, mystery and oodles of fun, and one which I would highly recommend.
I’d love if anyone who wants to give this meme a go would comment in the comments box and include a link to your post so I can visit, comment and find some great middle-grade recommendations. If you do create a post and are on Twitter, and would like to share your post, please use the hashtag #MGTakesOnThursday so I can find it, read it and share it!
Book Craic 