OK, now that my review of The Willoughbys has published in The Cleveland Plain Dealer, I'll dish: Lois Lowry's latest book is good. Really good.
Of course, it's not meant to be. It's meant to poke fun at everything that's just a tad too cut-and-dried about those old-fashioned classic tales. And for the most part, the book's characters are bad, bad people.
Mr. and Mrs. Willoughby, you see, don't like children. Especially their own. By the end of the first chapter, they've hatched a plan to get rid of the children (Frankly, it's not that good of a plan: packing up for an extended vacation and engaging a real estate agent to sell the house with the kids in it doesn't sound exactly foolproof to me. And that's part of the fun; it's a spoof, after all.)
For their part, the kids - 12-year-old Timothy, 10-year-old twins Barnaby A and Barnaby B, and poor little one-syllable Jane - aren't much better than their folks. In fact, before the 'rents have packed a suitcase, the little rug rats have decided they'd like to be orphans. And they have a plan, too...
From page one, The Willoughbys is a send-up of every "classic" convention you can probably remember - it's got your basic baby-left-on-the-doorstep, the gruff, grimy, very rich benefactor, and an extremely resourceful nanny.
Kids will enjoy the story, sure, but adults will catch many a joke that will escape the kids. More than a few young readers, I suspect, will miss the elaborate tongue-in-cheek near references to Baby Ruth (the candy bar) and many of the slyly borrowed conventions (from Mary Poppins, James and the Giant Peach, and other weighty but not-so-often-assigned reading).
Even so, the book will be a hit with middle school readers, and just about any fan of Lemony Snicket. I just hope some of their parents pick it up, too. The glossary alone is worth a read. Giggles are free, but unfortunately not nearly plentiful enough. This book packs a bunch of 'em. Enjoy.
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