Did you
think that monsters only hide under beds or in closets? You are so wrong.
Catherine Jinks’ How to Catch a Bogle
provides a fun and creepy dramatization of a common childhood fear, and
features a pint-sized heroine who confronts her circumstances with courage and
attitude.
Tiny Birdie McAdams has the voice of
an angel and a job way bigger than she is. Apprenticed to Alfred the Bogler,
her task is to lure bogles, or monsters, out of their hiding places in
abandoned wells and dark chimneys – without being caught and eaten, of course –
so that Alfred can kill them. Sassy and smart, Birdie is right proud of her
apprenticeship, although being the bait for a child-eating, nightmarish beast
secretly gives her the willies. Monsters aren’t the only threat to boglers,
however, as Birdie and her master soon discover. When the clothes of
disappeared children begin to appear on the backstreets of London, covered in
bogle slime and a mysterious man demands Alfred’s help in unsavory activities,
Birdie feels helpless to prevent disaster. It takes new and unlikely friends to
show her that even the toughest bogler’s apprentice occasionally needs backup.
Jinks’ junior fiction novel admirably
hits the right balance between creepy atmosphere and wry humor. Both the
historical and fantastical elements of Birdie’s world are well imagined and
brought to life through vivid descriptions and well-timed character
development. The street slang used by Birdie and her cronies is also a nice
touch. Read if you enjoy a well-paced story – but be aware that you may never
want to look inside a dark closet again.
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