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Children's Book ReviewsPage Two of ThreeGirl, 15, Charming But Insane by Sue LimbDelacorte Press, August, 2004Hardcover, 214 pages ISBN: 0385732147 Ages Young Adult Ordering information: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk 
Jess is a fifteen year-old English schoolgirl who lives
with her mother. She misses the support of her father, who
is separated from her mother, and lives far away in Cornwall.
Jess's best friend is as perfect as a Boticelli painting of Venus
and is from a very high-achieving family. A droll sense of
humor is her defense against the bewildering world of adolescence.
Sue Limb leads the reader on a hilarious romp through the vicissitudes of teenage life. Jess tries unsuccessfully to add to her physical appearance by inventing inexpensive breast implants made of canned soup inside plastic baggies. She is going to a party and wants to look good for Ben Jones, her current romantic interest. Everything seems to be working until an older student on the football team gets amorous intentions, and Jess has to flee to the bathroom to clean up an exploding mess of soup. The outrageously funny comments of the hapless heroine help her deal with her mounting problems as she finds that the older brother of the girl who gave the party installed a secret camera in the girls' bathroom. As Jess confronts her problems with her waggish outlook on life, she finally finds a solution to her problems from an unexpected source. Girl, 15, Charming but Insane is welcome a relief from the usual coming of age novel, filled with angst. Instead, writer Sue Limb provides us with a droll insight in almost every paragraph and lightens the burden of growing up with humor based on wisdom and an understanding of the temporary existence of most problems. --Sarah Reaves White The Grim Grotto (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 11) by Lemony SnicketHarperCollins, October, 2004Hardcover, 323 pages ISBN: 0064410145 Ages 9 and up Ordering information: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk 
The Baudelaire orphans have survived an amazing array of
misfortunes to date. But they are still alive, out of the hands
of the dastardly Count Olaf and still do not appear to be
suffering from post traumantic stress disorder. The narrator
tells us that what happens next is so horrible that he feels compelled to
inserts extensive factual information about the water cycle
so that readers will get bored and stop reading the book.
Undoubtedly, most will brave readers will soldier on.
Violet, Klaus and Sunny find themselves in an aquatic adventure when their search for the sugar bowl finds them on a submarine named Queequeg run by Captain Widdershins, his stepdaughter Fiona and Phil, whom you might remember from the Lucky Smells Lumbermill. The siblings must face the Medusiod Mycelium in the Gorgonian Grotto (a most unpleasant place) and, of course, Count Olaf and his henchmen make an appearance. Count Olaf, who is played by Jim Carrey in the upcoming film, seems as if he could be mellowing a bit in the book. Therefore, he will no doubt do something especially vile in the next installment of this clever, imaginative and absolutely addictive series. --Claire E. White Children's Book Reviews Page One | Page Two | Page Three Return to Book Reviews Index ** To visit the archives of children's books reviewed in The IWJ, please click here. |
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