The Interrupted Tale

March 1, 2014

Gr 3-7-Penelope is struggling with a number of mysteries: Her parents are still missing, her friend Simon has not written, and there is still a mysterious howling in the attic. She is excited, though, when she receives an invitation to speak at her alma mater, the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females. Going to Swanburne will give her a chance to determine just what the newest trustee, Judge Quinzy, is up to, for Penelope fears that he is not who he seems. When she arrives, she learns that everything is about to change, and saving the school rests on her shoulders. Just enough questions are answered and plot threads left open to keep readers enticed. It isn't necessary to be familiar with previous titles in the series to enjoy this one, but readers will want to go back to see how Penelope's journey began. Katherine Kellgren is a delightful reader. She gives each character a distinctive voice and is a lovely singer. Both parents and children will be clamoring for more. Give this to readers who enjoyed Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" titles (HarperCollins).-Elizabeth Elsbree, Krug Elementary School, Aurora, IL

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2013
Amid much mention of cake and iambic pentameter, the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females survives a challenge thanks to its star graduate, nanny Penelope Lumley, and her three wolfish wards. Invited on her 16th birthday to deliver an address to her school's residents and sundry others at a Celebrate Alumnae Knowledge Exposition, Miss Lumley travels to her alma mater with young Alexander, Beowulf and Cassiopeia Incorrigible. There, she discovers that malign "Judge Quinzy," disguised and purportedly dead father of her employer, Lord Frederick Ashton, has taken over the board of trustees and instituted a repressive regime that includes changing the school's very name to the Quinzy School for Miserable Girls. Why? It seems he's after a certain old diary that holds clues as to why the Ashton men have been howling at the full moon for generations. As in previous episodes, Wood threads a boisterous gaslamp melodrama with instructional references (here to poetic meters) and broad but inscrutable clues. These seem to link the Ashtons, the Incorrigibles and Miss Lumley herself in some still-mysterious way. As always, details thrill: The school vet, Dr. Westminster, is first met successfully teaching chickens to dance the hokeypokey. The history and nature of the Ashton curse at least begins to move out of the shadows at last. Still, much else remains to be illuminated in future sequels, which fans will be howling for. (finished illustrations not seen) (Comic melodrama. 10-12)

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Starred review from December 1, 2013
Grades 4-6 *Starred Review* Happily, the mysteries deepen at Ashton Place in this fourth volume in the Incorrigible Children series. Let us recap: the incorrigibles are three children raised by wolves but under the care of Lord Ashton, with Miss Penelope Lumley serving as their governess. Odd things happen at Ashton place, including Lord Fredrick's propensity to howl at the moon. But here the action shifts to Penny's alma mater, Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, which is in distress. A new board of directors wishes to change everything, including calling it the School for Miserable Girls. Can Penny help halt this disastrous turn of events? In this book, we come to that part in a series where one cannot really join in the fun without having read the previous books. And there is much fun to be had as the incorrigiblesAlexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeiaentangle themselves in the Swanburne world. Family mysteries become more mysterious, and chickens learn to dance. Once again delightful wordplay and a plot that snakes itself around a suspicious family tree add to the deliciousness. It looks as if one more book should answer questions, but there are quite a lot of them. Readers will wait eagerly to learn where the children came from, to whom they are related, and why Penny must continue to color her hair that deadly brown. Hmmm. To be illustrated. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: This series has amassed a large coterie of fans who will be eagerly looking to see how everything comes together.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2014
This fourth series entry finds plucky governess Penelope Lumley visiting her alma mater, the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, where trouble ensues and more of the mystery surrounding the Ashton family and Penelope's three orphaned, raised-by-wolves charges is revealed. As ever, the sprightly narration is the strongest feature, and fans will revel in the voice even as the plotting slows.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

February 1, 2014

Gr 4-6-In Wood's continuing comic-gothic series, nanny Penelope Lumley is called back to the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females to deliver a speech at the Celebrate Alumnae Knowledge Exposition, and she takes her three wolfish charges along. They find things much changed from Penelope's pleasant descriptions of the institution that was so instrumental in forming her character and philosophy. The Board of Directors has experienced something along the lines of a hostile takeover. Any enjoyment of life on the part of the poor, bright females is being squelched. It doesn't take long for Penelope to suspect that Judge Quinzy, who now heads the Board, is actually the supposedly deceased father of Lord Ashton and that he is after a book that may hold clues about the mysterious curse of the Ashtons. Readers learn that the three incorrigible children are not the only wolfish humans in the series and also a fair amount about poetic feet-especially iambic pentameter. It is all great fun and delightfully complicated-an essential purchase for libraries owning the previous three titles.-Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Library, NY

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.