Richie's Picks: Great Books for Children and Young Adults

Problems?
Ideas?
Suggestions?
Please email BudNotBuddy@aol.com

Thank You!

Those Bad Boys from the Chalkhill and Brimstone Miracle Glue factory are back:

"The worm was more like an eel or a snake, except it was segmented and protected by a natural, glistening armoured shell. It stared at Chalkhill with black, beady eyes from the bottom of a heated glass tank."

I'm generally resistant to writing about sequels. Indeed, I oftentimes procrastinate as far as reading them myself. If I've done my best to persuade readers to check out a great book, I figure they'll either want to read the sequel when it appears or they won't.

"It didn't sound too bad to Chalkhill. 'What do I do? Keep the worm with me in my pocket? Something of that sort?'
"The Facemaster hesitated. 'Ah...not exactly. The symbiote must be absorbed into your body.'
"Chalkhill's jaw dropped. 'I have to swallow it?'
"The Facemaster shook his head. 'Human saliva is toxic to the species. Consequently the insertion must be made in one nostril. The worm slides down your throat, crawls through the stomach into the large intestine, thence to the small intestine and, ultimately. the bowel, where it takes up permanent residence in your bottom.' "
Sounds uncomfortable, but it is actually that worm's butting in on Chalkhill's thoughts and conversations once it's taken up residence in his south end that becomes the bane of his despicable existence:

"Do be quiet, be quiet, be quiet! Chalkhill screamed inside his skull. The worm had talked non-stop from the moment it was inserted. If it went on very much longer, he was going to go mad. 'Why won't this thing shut up?' he asked the Facemaster. " 'The worm? They do that, I'm afraid. Most people get used to it eventually.' " 'Most people?' Chalkhill echoed. 'What about the ones who don't?' " 'They usually hang themselves.' " 'Which creates an interesting legal dilemma,' said the worm in Chalkhill's mind, having clearly eavesdropped on the spoken conversation. 'Should one bring a charge of suicide or murder? There are those lawyers who hold that the symbiotic relationship creates, in effect, a new entity, in which case hanging must be deemed an act of suicide. But there are others who would argue that the two sentient entities--wangaramas wyrm and faerie--remain distinct, if interlinked, in which case the suicide of one involves the murder of the other. In Jessup v. Trentonelf, however, Lord Justice Bedstraw ruled on the possibility of collusion by the wangaramas, which raises the spectre of assisted suicide, an offence in itself which, while carrying a lesser penalty than first degree murder, will nonetheless--' " 'Can't they just have the worm removed?' asked Chalkhill, desperately ignoring the inner monologue. 'Can't I just have the worm removed?' He could just possibly survive until he slaughtered Pyrgus at his Coronation, but after that he wanted the worm out again within the hour."

Sadly for Chalkhill, the removal procedure takes six months. And sadly for you--if you haven't yet read FAERIE WARS--you've got some serious catching up to do before you can discover what other advice that wascally Wangaramas Wyrm named Cyril offers his new partner, Chalkhill.

If you HAVE already read FAERIE WARS,

http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/faerie_wars.html

you'd know all about the secret ingredient in the glue and why Chalkhill deserves such a fate. You'd know about the Realm and about the adventures of Pyrgus Malvae, Holly Blue, Henry Atherton, and Mr. Fogerty, whose irascible, down-to-earth manner continues to make him the most unlikely character that I've ever met in a fantasy. And you'd know of Lord Hairstreak and why the state of affairs in the Realm are currently in a shambles.

Herbie Brennan is a master of walking that fine line between the dark and sinister on one hand and the utterly wacky and endearing on the other. (I'd do ANYTHING for my own endolg.) Brennan is able to create a thorough sense of otherworldliness in characters with whom you could instantly imagine having friendships. He is able to juggle five sets of characters in five different locales, and leave us hanging satisfied on one cliff after another after another.

Having finally been shamed into making time for THE PURPLE EMPEROR by my best fantasy-consuming high school reader--who places this at the pinnacle of his 2004 heap--I've got to tell you that it's time for you to step through the portal into the dangerous and delightful world of Herbie Brennan.

Richie Partington
http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com