Oh, there is nothing I do not love about this book.
Though it's aimed at middle grade students, it has this magical quality about it that keeps it irresistable to my 30-something year old self and has even hooked my eight-year-old son. He demands that we read it aloud together each night before bed and he never wants to be bothered before bed.
Amazing!
Rownie, the youngest in Graba the witchworker's household of stray children, escapes and goes looking for his missing brother. Along the way he falls in with a troupe of theatrical goblins and learns the secret origins of masks. Now Graba's birds are hunting him in the Southside of Zombay, the Lord Mayor's guards are searching for him in Northside, and the River between them is getting angry. The city needs saving — and only the goblins know how.
I should be upfront and say that a lot of Boy Wonder's obsession with this book lies in the fact that, if given the chance, he'd stay home in his underwear all day eating Cheeze Doodles and playing World of Warcraft. I don't let him play much, but he reads the manuals, the player's guides, and LOVES the lore. Goblins, to be specific. And Zombies, too.
And while there are no zombies in our book, the fact that the land is named Zombay leaves just enough hope in his young mind that there might be.
And as for me? Well, I'm a steampunk fanatic at heart and a witch named Graba with geared chicken legs beneath her heavy skirts? I knew I was in the right book. The imagination William Alexander has put forth here is phenomenal. I can't stop saying "How cool!" aloud as I read this.
Be sure the check out the Goblin Secrets website for a little backstory, a link to the author's site, and a neat mask-making activity available for download.
Happy Reading!
