Uncommonly Good?

I found a copy of ‘The Crooked Sixpence’ loitering on the shelf a few weeks ago, despite that fact that Tomeopathy Jr. had read it previously, and hadn’t provided a glowing recommendation (to be fair a scathing dismissal of all things Uncommon was also not sitting in my in tray (Tomeopathy Jr. can generally be relied upon as a good barometer where children’s books are concerned, but the occasional lapse in taste is not unknown. Have I mentioned that Tomeopathy Jr. doesn’t like The Earthsea books?!)), I thought I’d treat myself to reading an actual book rather than the usual electronic fare I’ve become accustomed to. Despite the lack of progeny endorsement, I’d put ‘The Crooked Sixpence’ up there with the better children’s books I’ve read. It mixes elements of classic portal fantasies like Narnia, with the ‘under your nose’ variety of fantasy found in ‘Skullduggery Pleasant’ or, dare I say it, ‘Harry Potter’.

Ivy and Seb Sparrow are thrown into a world of mystery and intrigue when their Grandmother is rushed into hospital after a fall. Their mostly absent parents (standard fare in book world it seems, who ever had an interesting day when their parents were around?) are both indisposed which leaves the Sparrow’s to fend for themselves for a few hours. A fairly routine task for a fourteen and eleven year old you’d think, get the bus home, chow down on a sandwich and binge-watch your favourite YouTube channel. Sadly outside influences have other ideas and before they know it Ivy and Seb are on the run from some very peculiar bailiff types who appeared back at Grandma’s house just before they did. To say much more would likely spoil the plot and any un/pleasant surprises along the way, so let’s suffice to say that they find their way into an alternative world of sorts, their family history catches up with them and “events transpire”.

I found this book to be fairly similar in tone to Abi Elphinstone’s ‘Dreamsnatcher Trilogy’, both feature a feisty young girl as the lead character, and both should appeal to a similar age range. If anything I actually feel that the plot of this first book is more tightly contained than in ‘The Dreamsnatcher’, a lot of plot aspects are wrapped up neatly and this could easily be read as a standalone novel. It’s clearly too soon for me to discuss the merits of subsequent books in the series, but if they continue in a similar vein then I would expect them to be more episodic in nature rather than an overall plot building from book to book. I’ll find out soon though because I intend to read the remaining books very soon (I’ve just started out on ‘The Malazan Book of the Fallen’, so ‘The Uncommoners’ can be the fluffy jam in my ultra-dense rye bread sandwich). A begloved high five to Jennifer Bell for this excellent addition to children’s fantasy literature.