Anyone but Ivy Pocket

February 15, 2015
If Amelia Bedelia stumbled into a particularly wacky episode of Dr. Who, this book might be the result. Self-deluded and self-important, with a propensity for chaos that boggles the mind, 12-year-old Ivy Pocket is the kind of maid that should be avoided at all costs. Her most recent employment ends when the Countess Carbunkle escapes her too-attentive "help" for South America, stranding the girl in Paris. Almost immediately she is tapped by the dying Duchess of Trinity to deliver the exceedingly rare Clock Diamond to a particular girl on her 12th birthday. Next thing Ivy knows, she's wrapped up in some very mysterious business. What are the visions she's seeing in the diamond? Why is she suddenly able to see ghosts? And perhaps most importantly, who exactly is trying to kill her-and why can't she die? Ivy is a rarity-an unreliable middle-grade narrator-and as such, Ivy is hilarious in and of herself. Yet what starts off as a straightforward cursed-necklace tale gets bogged down in a mythology that seems to want to keep topping itself. Ivy and readers are already knee-deep in ghosts, attempted murders and bratty heirs. Do they really need prophecies and alternate worlds on top of that? Ivy's charming ego carries the book far, just barely making up for any superfluous extras. (Fantasy. 9-12)

March 1, 2015

Gr 4-6-Twelve-year-old orphan maid Ivy Pocket is the unlikely (and deliberately unlikable) heroine embroiled in this quirky, supernatural mystery. The story begins when she is fired for submerging her employer's head in a bowl of fruit punch to cure her "brain fever." With only a single pound in her pocket, Ivy soon accepts a high-paying mission from a strange duchess-she must travel across the sea to deliver a necklace to a spoiled heiress. The necklace possesses magical powers and is highly sought after, putting Ivy through a series of madcap catastrophes. Her impulsivity and delusional hubris lead her to make one regrettable decision after the next. Ivy is superficial, judgmental, and rude; mature readers who are able to avoid taking her literally will appreciate the humor and Krisp's ironic tone. The Victorian English setting is conspicuously old-fashioned, but Krisp's sharp, fresh dialogue and the action-packed illustrations keep the story light and funny. VERDICT Fans of the irony, mild violence, and conspiracies found in Lemony Snickett's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" (HarperCollins) will love Ivy Pocket's zany adventures.-Anna Murphy, Berkeley Carroll School, Brooklyn, NY

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2015
Grades 4-6 It would be difficult to find a more unreliable narrator than Ivy Pocket, a 12-year-old orphan with a wildly inflated opinion of herself. After Ivy is dismissed from her position as a lady's maid in Paris, a dying duchess commissions the clueless girl to deliver the Clock Diamond, a fabulous jeweled necklace, to Matilda Butterfield on her twelfth birthday. Easily duped, Ivy befriends a suspicious character on her voyage to England and later invites her to Butterfield Park in time for the story's climax on Matilda's birthday. There are plenty of hints (helpfully misinterpreted by Ivy) of nefarious motives, while characters keep dark secrets from one another, and a number of mysterious hooded figures skulk in the background. Even readers who think they know where the story's headed will probably be wrong, but they will enjoy the ride, transported by Ivy's amusing narration and Cantini's expressive, stylized drawings that appear throughout the book. A droll chapter book with a Victorian setting and a one-of-a-kind protagonist.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2015
Twelve-year-old orphan maid Ivy Pocket is an unreliable, self-deluded, and egotistical narrator (think Amelia Bedelia meets Lemony Snicket) hired to deliver a magical necklace to an heiress. A host of villainous characters and shady motives, added to Ivy's rash but comical demeanor, will keep readers guessing, if they aren't distracted by the slightly convoluted supernatural mystery. Creepy, stylized black-and-white illustrations appear throughout.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 30, 2015