| |
1 |
Diary of a Mad Brownie: The Enchanted Files
Author:
Coville, Bruce
|
| |
|
Series:
Enchanted files, #1
|
| |
|
Class:
Fiction
Age: 8-12
Language: English
|
LC: PZ7.C834
Grade: 3-7
|
|
ISBN-13: 9780385392471
LCCN: 2014026335
Imprint: Random House Books for Young Readers
Publisher: Random House
|
|
Pub Date: 06/30/2015
Availability: Out of Stock Indefinitely
List: $16.99
|
| |
Hardcover
|
|
|
Physical Description:
|
241 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
H 8.5",
W 5.81",
D 1",
0.8 lbs.
|
|
LC Series:
|
The Enchanted Files
|
|
Brodart Sources:
|
Brodart's Fresh Reads for Kids TIPS Selections
Brodart's Insight Catalog: Children
Brodart's TOP Juvenile Titles
|
|
Bibliographies:
|
Children's Core Collection, 23rd ed.
Children's Core Collection, 24th ed.
|
|
Awards:
|
Booklist Starred Reviews
Children's Choices Reading List
Horn Book Guide Titles, Rated 1 - 4
|
|
Starred Reviews:
|
Booklist
|
|
TIPS Subjects:
|
Fantasy
Humorous Fiction
|
|
BISAC Subjects: |
JUVENILE FICTION / Humorous Stories
JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General
JUVENILE FICTION / Animals / Dragons, Unicorns & Mythical
|
|
LC Subjects:
|
Adventure and adventurers, Fiction
Blessing and cursing, Fiction
Diaries, Fiction
Family life, Fiction
Humorous stories
Imaginary creatures, Fiction
JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General
JUVENILE FICTION / Animals / Mythical
JUVENILE FICTION / Humorous Stories
Magic, Fiction
Orderliness, Fiction
|
|
SEARS Subjects: |
Adventure fiction
Blessing and cursing, Fiction
Diaries, Fiction
Family life, Fiction
Humorous fiction
Magic, Fiction
Mythical animals, Fiction
Orderliness, Fiction
|
|
Reading Programs: |
Accelerated Reader Level:
5.3
,
Points: 7.0
Lexile Level:
800
|
|
|
| |
| Annotations |
| Brodart's TOP Juvenile Titles | 06/01/2015 |
| A small creature with a passion for doing chores joins the infuriatingly messy girl he has inherited to break the strange curse that binds them in a tale told through diary entries and other assorted 'documents.' Enchanted files series, 256pp., B/W Ill. |
|
| Starred Reviews: |
| Booklist | 05/01/2015 |
| Grades 3-5. Bound by a family curse, Angus the brownie must leave Scotland for America to serve young Alex Carhart, the great-great-great-niece of his recently deceased mistress. After finagling his transatlantic voyage from a selkie, he secretly moves into the Carhart household and begins his dual task of bringing order while occasionally making mischief. Alex discovers his presence and tempers flare on both sides. But when a larger problem threatens the family, they join forces and begin to appreciate each other, before Angus leads Alex, her sister, her brother, and two older companions into the Enchanted Realm in an attempt to end the curse for good. It's not easy to merge such disparate elements as traditional Scottish lore and modern American life, but Coville brings it off with wit, style, and respect. The story moves quickly, energized by Angus' engaging voice and the use of shifting perspectives. Largely made up of the brownie's diary entries, the narrative also includes passages from Alex's journal as well as letters, text messages, news articles, poems, and other documents. Kidby's madcap jacket art and many black-and-white illustrations will draw young readers to the book. The first volume of the Enchanted Files series is smart, amusing, and a lot of fun. Phelan, Carolyn. 256p. AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, c2015. |
|
| Journal Reviews |
| Horn Book Guide | 11/01/2015 |
| 3. Angus the brownie leaves Scotland to look after Alex, an extremely messy American girl. When a curse on both their families turns Alex's brother and dad into terrible poets, she and Angus search for a way to break the curse before it destroys their lives. Told in journal entries and letters and illustrated with detailed line drawings, this series-starter is a funny, lighthearted fantasy. bcm. 245pg. THE HORN BOOK, c2015. |
|
| Kirkus Reviews | 04/15/2015 |
| A dedicated slob and a neatnik brownie, both with fierce tempers, face off in this much-expanded version of Coville's short story "Clean as a Whistle," published in Oddly Enough (1994). Coming home from school one day, young Alexandra is utterly freaked out to find her formerly chaotic bedroom neat as a pin--the work, it turns out, of her family's ancestral brownie, Angus Cairns, newly arrived from distant Scotland. Along with adding background history, the author recasts the shorter, original tale in a mix of journal entries by both Angus and Alex, interspersed with chat transcripts and other insertions. Coville also saddles the beleaguered brownie with a double curse: not only must Angus tend certain female members of the McGonagall line in each generation, but every male member of the household will at the same time be struck by an uncontrollable need to write bad, bad poetry. So, as Angus and Alex sort through anger issues on the way to a not-too-hard-won detente, they are subjected to such outpourings as "Oh no! I've caught the itch of love, / My ookie wookie turtledove" from her dad and teenage brother. Fortunately for both characters and readers, a way to break both curses lies fortuitously close at hand. Kidby provides engagingly posed pen-and-ink portraits of the various mundane and magical cast members, as well as a particularly demonic-looking cat. A knee-slapper in this or any edition. (Fantasy. 9-11). 256pg. KIRKUS MEDIA LLC, c2015. |
|
| Publishers Weekly | 04/20/2015 |
| Ages 8-12. This diary-style first book in the Enchanted Files series introduces hotheaded brownie Angus Cairns, a tiny elfin creature with a penchant for cleanliness and keeping order. He's also cursed and must serve the youngest eligible female of McGonagall family; his newest master, 11-year-old Alex Carhart, could be his biggest challenge yet. She's a "disorderly, messy, negligent, slapdash, untidy, unfastidious, unsanitary creator of disorder," and Angus is sure that they will never get along. When Angus realizes that his curse has infected the entire household and could cost the Carharts their futures--Alex's father abruptly quits his job to write (terrible) songs--the two team up to find a long-lost princess to break the curse. Coville infuses Angus's diary entries (as well as interspersed letters, poems, curses, text messages, etc.) with humor and heart, creating a lovable, altruistic, and slightly grumpy hero in Angus and a determined sidekick in Alex. With magic, mischief, and mayhem to spare, this sweet story of an unlikely friendship ought to delight readers of any age. Final art not seen by PW. Author's agent: Barry Goldblatt, Barry Goldblatt Literary. (June). 256p. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, c2015. |
|
| School Library Journal | 06/01/2015 |
| Gr 3-6--Angus Cairns is a young brownie at only 150 years old. As a magical being, he is a subject of the Queen of Shadows, who rules the Enchanted Realm. When the old woman to whom Angus is bound passes away, the binding curse from the queen forces Angus to leave his native Scotland to live and serve in an unknown territory--America. Angus's ancestors were obligated by the curse to the McGonagall family until what was taken from the queen is returned. The curse further stipulates that all male McGonagalls will become obsessed with poetry that "shall be like the braying of asses," sure to bring embarrassment and misery. After a harrowing journey, Angus arrives at his new and strange home and finds the girl to whom he is bound, 11-year-old Alex Carhart. Not only is she a messy, disorganized child--the antithesis of brownie behavior--but there is also a brother, a younger sister, and a cat in the house. Reluctantly at first, Angus and Alex come to respect and even believe in each other. Together they break the curse, which has started to have devastating (and very funny) effects on Alex's brother and father, the cursed McGonagall male descendants. The story unfolds through Angus's diary, Alex's journal, and a host of other communiques in the form of letters, text messages, and notes. Each maintains its own cadence and the sense that magical and human worlds are meeting. The result is a humorous, quick-paced, and engaging tale. Human and magical characters are likable with characteristics that readers will recognize. VERDICT This is a fresh and fast tale that is sure to elevate the standing of brownies, goblins, and other magical beings. Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at District of Columbia Public Library. 256p. SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, c2015. |
|
9780385392471,dl.it[0].title
|
|