Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Mabel Jones and the Forbidden City by Will Mabbitt, Ross Collins (Illustrated by)

A nasty witch has stolen Mabel's baby sister and she's on a quest to retrieve her.  Since it's Mabel, you know that this story will be filled with adventure!

Viking Books for Young Readers and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It's being published today.

This is a wild ragtime adventure for Mabel and her friends.  She begins alone in a wardrobe she doesn't recognize and meets some strange animals that force her out of the room.  She knows she must go to the Forbidden City to find her sister, so she starts asking around trying to find out where it is and who might take her there.

The story is written for middle graders and Mabel has more adventures than you can shake a stick at.  She's brave, determined and willing to offer anything to get her back.  There are imaginary creatures, real creature with human traits and madcap antics all over the place.

The ending is very ironic and I like it.  This busy story will be great fun for someone who hasn't quite decided if they like reading or not.  They might even read it more than once.

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