Malamander (Legends of Eerie-On-Sea #1)

The deeply atmospheric setting is a standout. This creepy, quirky debut trilogy opener—think H.P. Lovecraft crossed with John Bellairs—is dank, misty fun.

Taylor assembles the sort of supporting cast that makes anything seem possible...Odd encounters and narrow escapes set in motion by the arrival of Violet Parma, searching for parents who had disappeared on the beach 12 years before, lead her and half reluctant young Herbert Lemon, who had himself washed up as a baby in a crate of lemons, to a desperate climactic struggle. A lack of firm resolution hints at future visits to this winningly strange town.

In this endearingly strange middle grade adventure set against the backdrop of a seaside resort town during the off-season, two orphans are caught up in a local legend. In the appropriately named Eerie-on-Sea, Herbert Lemon, 12, works at the Grand Nautilus Hotel as a lost-and-founder, responsible for maintaining lost items. When Violet Parma, also 12, asks him to help find her parents, who went missing from the hotel when she was an infant, the resulting search quickly takes a turn for the weird. Violet's parents' disappearance connects to the local story of the malamander, a half-man, half-fish creature whose egg is believed to grant wishes. Everyone wants that egg, from local writer Sebastian Eels to the hook-handed "Boat Hook Man," to the Grand Nautilus's intimidating owner, Lady Kraken. Taylor (Haunters) combines atmospheric descriptions with tongue-in-cheek humor, off-kilter concepts (a mechanical mermonkey that "prescribes" books), and quirky characters to create an unusual series opener. Meanwhile, exaggerated, stylized illustrations from Booth (This Is Christmas) bring both cast and setting to life, capturing the feel of this fantastical, energetic mystery. Ages 8-12. (Sept.)

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

In the beach town of Eerie-on-Sea, "twelvish" orphan Herbert Lemon is the Lost-and-Founder at the old Grand Nautilus hotel. When, one winter night, Violet Parma drops through the cellar window, on the run from sinister forces and determined to find her parents who disappeared from the hotel when she was a baby, a friendship and an adventure begin. Their madcap search, with bold Violet spurring on reluctant Herbie, takes them to the Eerie Book Dispensary where an automaton—half-monkey, half-merman—provides book "prescriptions"; Mrs. Fossil's Flotsamporium where mysterious beachcomber findings are on offer; Dr. Thalassi's natural history museum; and sea mist-shrouded trips to the waterfront where an old shipwreck and a menacing sea creature, the eponymous malamander, lurk and threaten. Readers will be drawn in immediately by Herbie's chatty second-person voice. The fast-paced narrative includes subtle humor, clever plays on words, and rich cinematic details augmented by black-and-white illustrations and a map. Colorful characters, palpable atmosphere, close calls and some deliberately unanswered questions (how did little Herbie get washed up onshore in a lemon crate, and just what did happen to Violet's parents when they took a rowboat out to sea to find her?) will hook readers on this new British series and leave them eager for more. VERDICT A crowd-pleasing fantasy.—Marie Orlando, formerly at Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

"Herbie makes an excellent narrator, well versed in Eerie-on-Sea's strangeness but, ironically, clueless when it comes to Violet, and he manages both wit and vulnerability. Booth's black and white art gives full life to the characters, and fans of Lemony Snicket or Pseudonymous Bosch will find their next adventure here." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review) 

 "A wonderfully imaginative and atmospheric adventure, rich in myth and legend, and with a delicious gothic edge. . . . Malamander confirms [Taylor] as a ferociously talented writer. . . . This really is one that deserves all the buzz." —The Bookseller