Marvelous!
There's humor, madcap adventure, danger, oddball and outcast characters, an evil society of mad scientists, giant worms, etiquette school (danger), useful hermit crabs, and absurdity galore. And it's all presented with a narrative voice that feels like a highly caffeinated, manic cousin to Lemony Snicket; equally sarcastic, with similar sensibilities, yet much more animated and outrageous, and maybe influenced by reading a good bit of Captain Underpants. This story, as with Snicket's, centers on three unfortunate sibling orphans, each with a distinct and oddball talent.
Eugenia liked explosions and searching for expensive rocks. Dee-Dee liked building machines. And Gertrude was interested in things like bugs and beetles and what makes the purple feathers on pigeons sparkle and what makes soap bubbles have rainbows in them and where does a newt lay eggs and do cat whiskers feel anything and are guinea pigs related to pigs and how is a chili pepper hot and things like that.
This, too, is peppered with frequent narrative asides, commentary, irrelevant anecdotes, footnotes, and similar; but where Snicket's are along the lines of...
...a room with a cozy alcove in it--the word "alcove" here means "a very, very small nook just perfect for sitting and reading. (The Reptile Room)
...insertions from this book's narrator, Dr. G. Edwina Candlestank, are more like...
Millicent had devised a plan of entry that was simple and implacable, whatever implacable means. I don't feel like looking it up right now.”
As you might assume from the book's title and similar evidence, the three sisters learn to apply their particular abilities to the practice of mad science--which, in their town, is outlawed and thought mythical--to save the day. Somewhat. Kind of. With much misfortune thrown in. (More books are coming!)
Yet, similarities aside, this is no mere imitator or knock-off. As a librarian, I start every new celebrity book dubious and with reservations, wondering whether its publication is merely the result of status and connections or if the author truly is suited to the art. McKinnon quickly won me over and I can now firmly say that children's literature is enriched by her inclusion. This book is wonderfully clever, outrageous, enthralling, and entertaining. And let me throw in a pitch for her narration of the audiobook, which is as impressive as it is fantastic. She is marvel at performing this story.
It's hard to find books as fun as this one.
For a further taste, here are a couple of the book's footnotes that I particularly enjoyed:
The Stub-Rat was bred in 1522 for the purposes of terrorizing children in a Dutch village. The children liked to sneak out at night to steal doughnuts from the doughnut store, stubbing their toes on the jutting cobblestones of the sidewalks as they went--then they'd be too tired the following morning to work their mandatory fourteen-hour shifts of plugging up the dam with chewed bubble-gum. So the mayor hired a Virologist named Geerten Van Beerpgen to breed a rat with razor teeth that could hear the sound of a stubbed toe from five miles away. When the children stubbed their toes while sneaking out to the doughnut store, the rat would scurry over and chew off their feet. Well, the plan worked, perhaps a little too well: The Stub-Rat systematically chewed off all the children's feet, then the dam flooded and the village was wiped out. This is, of course, a cautionary tale against (1) child labor and hypocrisy, (2) breeding giant rats, and (3) placing civic trust in men named Geerten Van Beerpgen. But I digress.
And:
[main text] Anyway, there comes a time when the protagonist has lost it all. It's not fun to write, and it's certainly not fun to read. Someone you hopefully have come to care about or perhaps relate to in some way is in pain and probably alone and doesn't know what to do next. Maybe it reminds you of a time when you felt that way, too.*
*[footnote] I know it does for me: I am reminded of the time when I accidentally locked myself in the basement of my house and had to stay there for eight weeks and survived on the one things I buy in bulk and keep in the basement, which is string cheese. I had hypothermia and diarrhea. After eight weeks, I realized that the key to the basement door was stuck in my hair.
Highly recommended.
