by Kara Lareau (Author) Jen Hill (Illustrator)
In the spirit of A Series of Unfortunate Events and the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series, The Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters will captivate middle-grade readers looking for humor, hijinks, and a swashbuckling good time. Meet Jaundice and Kale Bland, two sisters who avoid excitement at any cost. Together, they patiently await the return of their parents, who left on an errand years ago and have never returned.
One day, the Bland sisters are kidnapped by an all-female band of pirates. They're unwillingly swept into a high-seas romp that might just lead to solving the mystery of what happened to their parents. With whimsical illustrations and Roald Dahl-esque wit, The Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters is the visually stunning, laugh-out-loud funny start to a new series for readers who are looking for an anything-but-bland adventure.
WorldCat is the world's largest library catalog, helping you find library materials online.
Kale and Jaundice Bland, twin sisters who live in the town of Dullsville, are quite content with their lives darning socks, eating plain oatmeal, and reading the dictionary for fun. They aren't even concerned about their parents, who left to run an errand several years earlier and never returned. After the girls are kidnapped by Deadeye Delilah, captain of a band of all-female pirates, they are thrust into an adventure that involves their missing parents, questionable stews, and Deadeye Delilah's nemesis, Captain Ann Tennille. Deadpan dialogue helps the sisters live up to their surname ("I hope they have some salve on hand, wherever we're going," notes Kale, as the girls are hauled off in a chafe-inducing burlap sack), but there's no shortage of the kind of "Serious, Life-Threatening Peril" that the twins typically avoid. Filled with puns, intrigue, and ample evidence that women make excellent—and ruthless—pirates, it's a promising introduction to the Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters series. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8-12. Author's agent: Barry Goldblatt, Barry Goldblatt Literary. Illustrator's agent: Anne Moore Armstrong, Bright Agency. (Jan.)
Copyright 2016 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.