Author: Barbara Spencer
Publisher: Troubador
Rating: WORTHY!
DISCLOSURE: Unlike the majority of reviews in this blog, I've neither bought this book nor borrowed it from the library. This is a "galley" copy ebook, supplied by Net Galley. I'm not receiving (nor will I expect to receive or accept) remuneration for this review. The chance to read a new book is often enough reward aplenty!
Delightfully illustrated by Charley Belles.
Philip James Longbotham lives with his mom and two older sisters, Anna, and Kitty. He's four years old and is rather OCD. He liked to measure their new home every day in case it had grown in the night. He seems to have a vocabulary way in excess of what might be expected in you typical four-year-old, but he soon grows into it.
This novel consists of text and images, some of which contain text, continuing the story, but some of those were barely legible in the Adobe Digital Editions version of the novel, and this was on a reading page measuring approximately ten inches by six (that's very approximately 25cm by 15cm for the rest of the world outside the antique USA). Hopefully that issue will be fixed before this goes to regular publication, otherwise it’s going to be a tough and tedious job trying to read this on a Kindle or an iPad mini or a smart phone!
The novel is set in Britain, so I felt right at home, but I have to say some of the writing was a little off here and there. Many sentences which ought to have ended in a question mark were missing one, and conversely, at least one which did not need a question mark had one. That aside, I loved the writing and the tone of voice. It was playful, amusing, inventive, and very engrossing. I loved the family dynamics. Anna and Kitty were completely adorable, even as they were being evil sometimes. OC was a delight in his simplicity as his friend Charles was in his scheming complexity.
Although Philip begins this novel at age four, nearly five, the story progresses quite rapidly after his unfortunate encounter of the wasp kind (the purpose of which was something of a mystery to me, since he obviously had some sort of issue going on before that). However, afterwards, we’re told that he's now a savant when it comes to chess, math, and science, and a poor student when it comes to English - particularly spelling. He also has a hard time remembering things and so he keeps notes to help himself. Very practical!
When he gets into his teens, he meets a new guy who moved in next door, Charles Andrew Sheridan Harris, or Cash for short. Cash is the same age as Phil, and despite being wheelchair-bound, he's hell-bent on a career in crime. He starts out small with shoplifting, but after he meets Phil, know known universally as OC, he migrates into business, charging other students for forging their homework, with Phil answering their math and science questions and Cash forging their handwriting with the answers - and with some wrong answers and crossings-out to make it look authentic. The two of them accumulate a small pile of money with these techniques.
When Cash learns that OC is an expert chess player, they move into tournament play for cash prizes. One of these involved bringing in Anna, who can pass for eighteen, and Kitty, who is an expert at handling OC if he has an episode. These episodes are triggered when his brain overloads, and she's masterful at bringing him down to Earth again. This is how they end-up in Birmingham pursuing another tournament and a little business opportunity on the side, envisaged by Cash.
I found this novel to be completely captivating despite being nowhere near the age it's aimed at. I don't know what it was exactly (other than really good writing, of course!), but it grabbed me from the off and it never let go. All of the characters were superbly well-drawn and entertaining. I loved the Longbotham family. Anna and Kitty were particularly entertaining. I can see them getting their own novel.
The story was fun, it moved at a decent clip, it delivered the goods, and it came up with a really neat ending. I recommend this novel.
