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Book Reviewed by:From the book jacket: This book promises suspense! Intrigue!
Mystery! Fairies fall out of books! Birds turn into dogs! Nuns turn into
lampposts! So I have no idea why you're still lingering here. . . . Start
reading! (Ages 9+)
Comment: N.E. Bode is the loosely veiled
pseudonym of adult novelist Julianna Baggot (Girl Talk, 2001 &
various short stories and poems). Like a number of recent children's authors,
Bode remains a tangible presence in the story by keeping up a continuous stream
of asides addressed directly to the reader. Personally, I find this style of
writing mildly irritating as I find the commentary pulls me out of the story,
rather than drawing me in; but then again, I'm about 3 decades older than the
intended target audience, so what do I know about it!
Putting that mild
criticism aside, The Anybodies is undoubtedly a fun read. Think of it
as a children's version of Jasper Fforde's 'Thursday Next' novels;
12-year old Fern tangles with various dastardly characters as she attempts to
find the missing book, 'The Art of Being Anybody', before 'The Miser'
gets to it. In the course of her search she discovers that she has inherited
her mother's ability to literally shake characters from books, and before long
the cast has extended to include hobbits, fairies, and many other characters
that reasonably well-read children will recognize. Those who enjoy books by
Cornelia Funke (such as Inkheart) and Lemony Snicket will most
likely appreciate The Anybodies.
'The writing is fluid, the characters
are multifaceted, and the situations range from poignant to gloriously silly.
Eye-catching, black-and-white sketches echo the story's nuances and add to the
atmosphere. There's laugh-out-loud humor, fantasy, mystery, real-life family
drama, and the potential for a sequel. What more could a reader want?' -
School Library Journal.
This review
first ran in the September 1, 2005
issue of BookBrowse Recommends.
If you liked The Anybodies, try these:
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Characters from books literally leap off the page in this engrossing, action-packed fantasy by the author of The Thief Lord.
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