Monday, May 30, 2011

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: The Ogre of Oglefort

For those of you that are working today and not cleaning their garage (like me), here is my pick for MMGM:



The Ogre of Oglefort by Eva Ibbotson
Release date: August 2011 ( I won the ARC from Shannon Whitney Messenger--love that girl.)


Other books by this author:
Secret of Platform 13
Island of the Aunts
Which Witch?
Journey to the River Sea
The Dragonfly Pool
The Great Ghost Rescue
Dial-a-Ghost


The Hook: When a princess has gone missing and an ogre is to blame, it's up to a hag, a troll, a wizard and an orphan to save her.


Why I really enjoyed this book: Flipping stereotypes and a bit with a dog. The story almost immediately flips when there's a princess who would rather collect bugs and be turned into a bird instead of marrying a prince. There's also a hospitable hag, a helpful ogre, a poor prince, and a wizard chef. I kept asking myself what's going to happen next because everything I predicted was completely off and I was pleasantly surprised with each chapter. This book is definitely for younger middle graders (I dropped it on my 9-yr-old's TBR pile but even my 7-yr-old could read this). Kids who love Roald Dahl will love this story. Great for both boys and girls.


Want More: Eva Ibbotson died last October at the age of 85. Read her son's interview about her legacy or read her interview at Indiebound.

Other MMGMers:


I'm in a scary book phase, although this wasn't even sorta scary. Do you read in genre clumps? If so, what genre are you addicted to right now?

9 comments:

  1. Hey! Normally I do read in genre clumps (how much to I love that...you need to do a genre clump post, lol!) But, right now I am all over the place, contemporary, fantasy, MG, YA....but will say my favorite clump is scary/ghost with lots of humour! Enjoy your memorial day and yeah...stay outta that garage, read a book instead:P

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great, another Eva Ibbotson book to look forward to. Like you, Brooke, I love the constant surprise in her books, love to think I know where the story's going. . .then not. And the humor! She's had me since ISLAND OF THE AUNTS.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Haven't seen an ARC of this, so thanks for sharing. I do love Eva Ibbotson. Humor mixed with fantasy is always welcome.

    I'm supposed to be cleaning too, but hey, it's a holiday!

    My reading is all over the place. I'll go from a YA thriller to a humorous MG, from contemporary to historical. But if I find an author I really love, I'll try to read more than one book by that author. (And if it's a trilogy, like I've got on my blog today, that's a no-brainer!)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I could survive on MG historical fiction alone and have to force myself in other directions.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I really want to read this one. Thanks for the review!

    And sometimes I do read in clumps, but I haven't been lately, unless you count what I'm not reading. I'm tired of paranormals and dystopians, especially the ones with love triangles.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I adore Eva Ibbotson, can't wait to read this one.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The Secret of Platform 13 was a huge hit last year around here. That looks like another great one!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I loved The Secret of Platform 13. This one sounds awesome too. Thanks for sharing about this.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I've been trying to read a lot of zombie novels for my students. Not my favorite, but it's easier to get through several of them. There aren't enough scary books out there, although the British seem to have more.

    ReplyDelete