What-the-Dickens:
The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy
What's the Story?
A terrible storm is raging, and ten-year-old Dinah is huddled by candlelight with her brother, sister, and cousin Gage, who is telling a very unusual tale. It’s the story of What-the-Dickens, a newly hatched orphan creature who finds he has an attraction to teeth, a crush on a cat named McCavity, and a penchant for getting into trouble. One day he happens upon a feisty girl skibberee who is working as an Agent of Change — trading coins for teeth — and learns that there is a dutiful tribe of skibbereen (call them tooth fairies) to which he hopes to belong. As his tale of discovery unfolds, however, both What-the- Dickens and Dinah come to see that the world is both richer and less sure than they ever imagined.
What's the Buzz?
"At first, this story-within-a-story structure seems unnecessarily complicated and dark for a tale about tooth fairies (who might be smart-alecky and tough but are still fairies, after all). But it all makes a little more sense when you know that this novel was originally serialized in newspapers to provide a diversion in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina." - Kids Reads
"I really didn't think I was going to like this book. "The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy," the cover proclaims. Tooth fairy? The idea just didn't seem all that interesting to me. Boy was I wrong. This is so much more than a book about a tooth fairy." - Wands & Worlds
"With the dire situation of Dinah and her brother and sister, this book is a bit dark. But the intriguing story gives you the feeling of a light in a dark place." - Sonder Books
"Macguire certainly has a unique style of story telling. The best way I can think of to describe his writing is to say that it is clear that he ENJOYS his storytelling. You can tell that he really loves what he does. Sometimes you can almost see a grin in the way he dashes out a few details and in the way he expresses humor through his characters. He’s just having fun! " - 5 Minutes For Books
"... it starts out very slow. I wasn't surprised to read many reviews that said it was dull and they wanted to quit reading as What-the-Dickens dithers around trying to figure out what he is and what he should do. The story really picks up once he meets Pepper..." - The Childrens Literature Book Club
"If you have a small person between the ages of 9 and… well I refuse to stick an upper age limit on it, then you should get this book for them. Read it yourself first though!" - Book & Biscuit
"I think What-the Dickens can be read two ways: as a straight-across fairy tale aimed at mainly 5th-8th graders. Or it can be read with more adult undertones of religious and political themes. ... I wouldn’t say there is enough fodder for philosophical debates or personal paradigm shifts, but there is a little meat to gnaw off the bone." - Tree, Root & Twig
No comments:
Post a Comment