Dreadful Acts: Summary and book reviews of Dreadful Acts by Philip Ardagh, plus links to an excerpt from Dreadful Acts and a biography of Philip Ardagh.

In this eagerly awaited sequel to A House Called Awful End, Eddie Dickens narrowly avoids being blown up, trampled by horses, hit by a hot-air balloon, and arrested--only to find himself falling head-over-heels for a girl with a face like a camel's and into the hands of a murderous gang of escaped convicts. All the old favorite faces are here--including Mad Uncle Jack and Malcolm the stuffed stoat--along with some very worrying-looking new ones. Beware! A Message To My American Readers Because I like you Greetings, once again, from across the Atlantic. The book you have in your hand, or someone else's hand if you're reading over his or her shoulder, is called Dreadful Acts and is the sequel to A House Called Awful End. Both are set in England sometime during the reign of Queen Victoria (who sat on the throne for more than sixty-three years, so let's hope she had a cushion), which is why some of the events or people might seem rather odd to American eyes. Then again, that might have something to do with my storytelling. You don't need to have read A House Called Awful End for this book to make sense; it's a story in its own right . . . and I'm not sure that Awful End made a great deal of sense, anyway. I do hope you enjoy reading Dreadful Acts. I had great fun writing it! Philip Ardagh, 2003

Media Reviews

Newsday These are among the rare books that will reward slow readers as richly as book-gobblers, because moving word to word and savoring the absurdity of each phrase will give as much pleasure as galloping through the story.   Times Record News If you adored Philip Ardagh's witty, hilarious and somewhat bizarre short novel for adolescents and somewhat older readers titled, A House Called Awful End, then you must go out and buy, beg, or borrow the second installment, called Dreadful Acts.   School Library Journal - Ashley Larsen Grade 4-6. Fans of Monty Python's style of humor will appreciate the constant verbal wit, slapstick, and random plot twists. Others will find the narration grating and hard to follow.   Booklist - Shelle Rosenfeld Gr. 4-7. The second book in the Eddie Dickens trilogy finds the 12-year-old encountering yet another series of odd events and characters. Black-and-white drawings with a touch of the macabre add further period flavor and farce. This will be great for series fans, but it will also stand alone.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by No one
DReadful Acts
This book is great for kids, Very funny and it twists the way we think of books. My only criticism is that the book is very short and would take no more than a week to read. I think that books should stick with for some time. Over all this book is...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Eliza Cruz
Dreadful acts
It was a good book. I learned a lot from it!

Rated of 5 by Thomas
I loved the second Eddie Dickens book because it was funny and good.
It was funny because a man called Barking is barking mad! The descriptions are very funny too - One of the people has the face of a camel! It is good because it is organized...   Read More

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Books with similar themes

• Children's Books Ages 9 up
  
• Britain & Eire 
  
• 19th Century 
  
• Humor & Satire