School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Eddie Dickens, hero of A House Called Awful End (Holt, 2002), returns. This time, his adventures begin with a bang, or rather a boom, as his father accidentally blows a large hole in the house by lighting a match after leaving the gas on. The noise spooks a pair of horses that have mysteriously appeared in the yard, trailing a hearse with a coffin inside. To the boy's horror, the coffin begins to open-and The Great Zucchini, a famous escapologist whose latest trick has gone horribly wrong, emerges. Suddenly, Eddie finds himself caught up in a whirlwind of activity in which he is thrown in jail, kidnapped by escaped convicts, and involved in a mad chase across the moors. Ardagh keeps the tone light and engages in a nonstop stream of wordplay and general zaniness. The characters in this quirky British series are purely stock, and the plot is deliberately far-fetched. Fans of Monty Python's style of humor will appreciate the constant verbal wit, slapstick, and random plot twists. Others will find the narration grating and hard to follow. Roberts's dark line drawings (a cross between the art of Edward Gorey and Shel Silverstein) appear throughout the text. A glossary provides definitions for some of the Briticisms and more obscure words. Not an essential purchase, this book may occupy Lemony Snicket's fans who are anxiously awaiting the next installment in that series.-Ashley Larsen, Woodside Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Novel sequels and series additions will keep young readers riveted. In a starred review of Philip Ardagh's debut title in the Eddie Dickens Trilogy, A House Called Awful End, illus. by David Roberts, PW said, "Adult fans of Bleak House and Oliver Twist will appreciate Ardagh's clever crafting, and kids who lap up Lemony Snicket's series will take quickly to this tale and clamor for the next." Well, here's the next: Dreadful Acts. First, 12-year-old Eddie's home erupts in a gas explosion. Then, he meets the Great Zucchini, an escape artist whose coffin is propelled from the back of a passing hearse by the force of the blast. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved