Dead good
This was another of those books that I happened to pick up and didn't put down again until I had finished, despite being in the middle of other reading. It is always a good sign.
But it is also important that they have access to well written entertainment reads, books into which they can escape and discover new worlds of the imagination, worlds that amuse, excite, captivate and sometimes thrillingly scare them. Good examples of such books are not always as easy to find as you might think. However, Will Mabbitt's latest certainly provides an outstanding example.
His earlier Mabel Jones books are lovely examples of zany-comedy-with-a-warm-heart and deservedly have many young fans. Undoubtedly this will shortly increase as the first in the series, The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones, has been included in the heavily promoted 'Tom Fletcher Book Club'.
His new book, Embassy of the Dead, is, if anything, even better.
Dead original
There have been a number of children's books recently which centre around the spooky fantasy of living humans who help ghosts to 'move on' into an afterlife. It is an idea that features strongly in Jonathan Stroud's brilliant series Lockwood & Co and in another book I much admire Whichwood by US author Tahereh Mafi (both for older children and young adults) as well as in the recently popular The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson.
Despite sharing part of this basic premise, Embassy of the Dead has much about it that is hugely and entertainingly original. Rather than presenting us with the young agents of some ghost-busting organisation, protagonist Jake is a regular boy who suddenly finds himself having to try to penetrate the bureaucratic and somewhat inept Embassy of the Dead, an organisation tasked with guarding the border between this life and the afterworld. More specifically, he has to try to return a severed finger before it can be reunited with its long-dead corpse and used for uber-evil ends. All the while he is being pursued by monstrous foes, at least one of whom seems set on sending him into the Eternal Void. Will Mabbitt's great skill is to render such ludicrous goings on not only hilarious but grippingly involving too.
Dead clever
Jake himself is grappling with the trauma of parental break-up and this convincing grounding in real life is one of the hooks that pull us so empathetically into his story. However his companions are far from the bravely loyal but rather anaemic friends of so many children's adventure stories. Instead Jake is partnered in this escapade by the ghost of a rather elderly, grumpy and self-righteous undertaker. Soon also joining his little 'gang' is a spectral schoolgirl who has, to put it mildly, something of an attitude, not to mention a hockey stick that delivers quite a clout, its ethereal nature notwithstanding. Later there is also the rather forlorn shade of a fox, and, thankfully, a heroic 'knight' of the agency, who at least understands what's going on. Agh, Hush! Enough! Suffice it to say that the weird and wonderful characters who people this story are its greatest joy.
Embassy of the Dead segues cleverly between creasingly funny and scarily exciting and sometimes even manages to be both at the same time. Even though this is a relatively light read (if you can use the term for a such a 'dark' storyline) Will Mabbitt builds his plot with masterful skill, continually surprising and twisting to keep his readers intrigued and the pages turning. Equally admirable is his construction of English prose, which conceals considerable craft and succeeds in communicating vividly whilst always remaining easy and comfortable to read.
This hilariously spooky new book is entertainment of the highest order and will, I am sure, prove to be a real kid-pleaser. Hurray for another author who is doing so much to get and keep children reading.
Dead right
Chris Mould's quirky and amusing illustrations complement the story perfectly. His accessible cartoon style adds another dimension of vivid life to the idiosyncratic and eccentric characters, and also helps to signal that this is 'gothic light', amusing escapism rather than anything that will seriously disturb young readers.
The story ends as such stories do, and should. There is enough warm fuzziness to feel satisfying, without over sentimentality - and then a teaser for the next in the series. That there is more to come from this particular Embassy is further cause for celebration.
