Magicalamity

October 15, 2012
Tom Harding is a polite, innocent, blue-eyed English boy. Look again: He is also a demisprite (half fairy, half mortal) who must rescue his father from a 21st-century fairyland that is not "a pink, sugary kind of place." "Tom had a moment of unreality. This time yesterday he'd been watching television in the kitchen at home, listening to Mum and Dad chatting and laughing downstairs while they closed up the deli. Now his mother had vanished and his father was living undercover as a bat." Lively humor and zany plot twists persuade readers to join Tom, his clumsy cousin Pindar and his three larger-than-life fairy godmothers in a lighthearted romp to the realm of Fairy and back to London. The book is peppered with allusions to figures historical, magical and literary--and contains amusing amalgams. (Who would have guessed that Coco Chanel and Joseph Stalin were both demisprites?) Occasional potty humor is balanced by understatements such as "When you've just been told you might be about to disintegrate, it's hard to concentrate on anything else." Saunders entertains readers of all ages with such escapades as a glass-coffin heist (think "Snow White" meets The Wizard of Oz). Despite oft-repeated threats, violence is always offstage or silly--as in spells that turn bad guys into dung beetles. Good fantasy fun, British style. (Fantasy. 9-12)

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Starred review from April 1, 2013

Gr 4-6-This funny, outrageous romp through fairyland has it all: spies, secret organizations, fairy godmothers, flying carpets, and magic. Tom Harding is under the mistaken impression that he is a normal 11-year-old, until the day that his parents disappear and he finds a bumbling fairy in his kitchen, making eggs for breakfast. It turns out that she is one of his three fairy godmothers, his father is a fairy in mortal danger, his mother has been hidden in a jar of sun-dried tomatoes, and he is a demisprite, a persona non grata in the fairy kingdom. Despite this, it is clear to Tom that he will have to save his parents from the fury of the ruling Falconer family. With the help of his fairy godmothers and Pindar, a renegade Falconer, he uses his determination, courage, and clear-sightedness to bring the story to a satisfying resolution. Children who prefer their fantasy lighthearted will love this action-packed adventure, brimming with sly humor and clever asides, such as the Realm Wide Web with the Abracadabra browser. This book should fly off the shelves, with or without a magic carpet.-Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2012
Grades 4-6 Fairy godmothers aren't just for princesses. Eleven-year-old Tom's father (who never told him he was a fairy) is taken to the fairy realm and charged with the murder of Milly Falconer, the ruling family's daughter, while Tom's mortal mother has been hidden in a jar of sun-dried tomatoes for her own protection. Not one but three fairy godmothers of varying abilities set out to help demisprite (half fairy, half mortal) Tom prove his father's innocence, find Milly's real killer, and become educated about his fairy heritage. British humor and historical allusions abound as Tom and the fairy godmothers gather Tom's cousin, Pindar, who is allergic to magic, into their motley crew and meet with rebel fairies bent on taking down the Falconer empire. There are plenty of other plot threads, too, yet Saunders weaves a tight tale with a satisfying conclusion that ties the various adventures together.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2013
Demisprite Tom's fairy dad is wanted by the ruling family of the fairy Realm, and his mortal mom is hiding in a jar of sundried tomatoes. It's up to Tom, three eccentric fairy godmothers, and hapless possible cousin Pindar to save Dad and keep Mom safe. This is a whimsical, humorous romp with well-developed characters readers will invest in.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)