Book
Pure dead magic
Record details
- ISBN: 9780440418498 (pbk.)
- ISBN: 0440418496 (pbk.)
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Physical Description:
print
182 p ; 20 cm. - Publisher: New York : Dell Yearling, 2002.
Content descriptions
| General Note: | "A Dell Yearling Book" Originally published New York : Knopf, c2001. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Magic -- Fiction Witches -- Fiction Castles -- Fiction Family life -- Scotland -- Fiction Scotland -- Fiction |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Sitka.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 0 total copies.
Other Formats and Editions
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort St. John Public Library | JPB GLI (Text) | BFSJ076254 | JUNIOR Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Monthly Selections - #1 August 2001
Gr. 4-7. J. K. Rowling meets Lemony Snicket in a high-tech setting. There's so much going on in this debut novel, it's hard to know where to begin. Let's see, the three children of the Strega-Borgia family--Titus, Pandora, and baby Damp--are bemoaning the disappearance of their father, and their mother is going back to Witch's School to support the family, leaving them in the care of a newly hired nanny, a dragon, and assorted other beasts. Unbeknownst to his family, Mr. Strega-Borgia has been kidnapped by his brother, the evil Don Strega-Borgia, who is willing to kill Titus for an inheritance. Does this go over the top? Does it ever. Damp, miniaturized and sent into Cyberspace, is rescued by a spider; one of Titus' assassins wears a bunny suit; and a plastic surgery done on Don Strega-Borgia's nose goes terribly wrong. Gliori doesn't forget the grossness, provided primarily by the aromatic Damp, though Dragon diarrhea also plays a role. Sometimes convoluted and occasionally tedious, this is nevertheless an original that also has plenty of laughs. Look out, more pure dead magic is in the works. ((Reviewed August 2001)) Copyright 2001 Booklist Reviews - Horn Book Guide Reviews : Horn Book Guide Reviews 2002 Fall
The Strega-Borgia family of Scotland--which includes a witch for a mother and creepy kids Titus, Pandora, and Damp--contend with a bizarre new nanny, pet rats teleported across the Internet, and the abduction of the childrenÆs father by his brother, a Mafia don. This first volume of a trilogy mixes humor with horror, but the comedy is often gross, and the over-the-top plot is too broadly focused. Copyright 2002 Horn Book Guide Reviews - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2001 August #1
Mary Poppins meets the Addams Family in a nonstop farce that spins readers and characters through cyberspace, from a cluttered mansion in the Scottish highlands to an elegant Italian palazzo. Three weeks earlier, paterfamilias Luciano Strega-Borgia had stormed out of StregaSchloss in a snit and mysteriously vanished. Now, with witch graduate school about to open, his grieving wife Baci is desperately in need of a nanny unfazed by the crocodile in the moat, the dragon, yeti, and griffin in the cellar, and a trio of strong-minded children ages 1, 10, and 12. Enter motherly Flora McLachlan, a cool-headed retired witch with an unusually useful Palm Pilot. There's one crisis solved-but the plot thickens: Luciano wakes up in Italy, kidnapped by evil half-brother Don Lucifer di S'Embowelli Borgia, and, shortly before the arrival at StregaSchloss of an ill-fated squad of hitmen (one in a bunny suit) hired by Don Lucifer, young Titus and Pandora Strega-Borgia inadvertently e-mail baby Damp through Luciano's PC. This debut fiction from Gliori (Polar Bolero, p. 497, etc.) is also the first of a projected trilogy, though it stands sturdily on its own. She fills it with incident, as well as magical transformations, nauseating messes, cartoon violence, just deserts, and an array of exaggerated characters ranging from innocent to vile, quietly competent to totally clueless. Should Lemony Snicket grow a bit stale, here's the perfect antidote. (Fiction. 11-13)Copyright Kirkus 2001 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2002 September #1
"Gliori's debut novel follows events after a 10-year-old waves her mother's magic wand and loses her baby sister in the modem, merging traditional fantasy with high technology," PW said. Ages 10-up. (Aug.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information. # - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2001 August #4
Gliori's (Tell Me What It's Like to Be Big) debut novel merges traditional fantasy with high technology; the result is a bit of a conceptual mish-mash with a tangled plot, enlivened by an eccentric sense of humor. In Scottish castle StregaSchloss, the three Borgia children (12-year-old Titus, 10-year-old Pandora and a 14-month-old girl, Damp) find their family in crisis: their father has disappeared, their heartbroken mother is busy at witchcraft school and the pet mythical beasts that live in the dungeon are growing restless. When Pandora borrows her mother's magic wand and loses her baby sister in the modem (the technological practicalities are a stretch) the children must rely on a smart-talking spider to rescue Damp from the information superhighway while they also try to save their father from his evil, elephant-nosed brother. Computer-savvy readers will no doubt be frustrated ("What you've failed to grasp, o leggily-challenged one, is that this is virtual travel. Not real travel," says the spider to Pandora, shortly before they actually send themselves, via e-mail, to the nefarious brother's house). Others will wonder why the villain prevents the father from e-mailing the police but allows him to e-mail his family for help. But bathroom humor abounds (dragon diarrhea, a hit-man in a rabbit suit peeing in his outfit) and Gliori's oddball characters are certainly good fun; the book and its two projected sequels may charm audiences despite its flaws. Ages 10-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. - School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 2001 September
Gr 4-6-Ever since Signor Luciano Strega-Borgia disappeared three weeks ago, kidnapped (unbeknownst to his family) by his evil inheritance-seeking half brother, the household has coped as best as it can. Signora Strega-Borgia decides to brush up on her magic at the Institute of Advanced Spelling, leaving Titus, Pandora, and Damp to the sensible ministrations of their new nanny, Mrs. McLachlan. Through a combination of misused magic, sibling rivalry, and an interesting interpretation of computer technology, baby Damp gets lost in the Internet and must be rescued by the household spider, who is a natural Web expert. Filled to bursting with an eccentric cast of characters, this extravagant tale combines magic, mafiaesque villainy, mythical beasts, foible-filled humans, and humor into a mixture that will appeal to fans of Diana Wynne Jones, J. K. Rowling, and even Lemony Snicket. There is a little too much going on, there are some characters with too little to do, and some elements go over the top-several stereotypical bad guys expire in gruesome and ludicrous ways, for instance-but the outrageous, tongue-in-cheek tone makes up for any plot deficiencies. Speechless baby Damp and Tarantella, the lipstick-wearing spider, whose trip through the Internet is short but enthralling, are particularly intriguing characters. Readers who want more of this clamoring clan will be happy to know that this is the first of a trilogy. Pure dead fun.-Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. - Voice of Youth Advocates Reviews : VOYA Reviews 2001 December
Three witch siblings grudgingly accept their new allegedly nonmagical nanny-she earns some points right away by being one of the few applicants not to be eaten by their pet/guardian crocodile. Pandora, Titus, and Damp need a nanny while their mom continues witch-study and their father remains missing after a marital spat. Father has not run off, however. He has been kidnapped by his half brother, Don di S'Embowelli Borgia, who is also an evil Mafia boss. With the help of the nanny, who is forced to use her secret nifty little Palm Pilot wand; the other pet/guardians, which include a yeti, a dragon, a griffin, and an enormous spider; and some hackerlike computer skill, their father is eventually rescued. Threads of Mary Poppins, The Addams Family, Harry Potter, The Godfather, and cyberpunk combine in this highly original and often humorous story. Too many balls in the air, however, take away from the story's overall effectiveness. Readers of Snicket's Unfortunate Events series are the best target audience for this uneven tale of sibling rivalry, familial woe, magic, and technology. Converted fans of this new author will look forward to her next book and might hope for a more streamlined story.-Elaine McGuire. PLB $17.99. ISBN 0-375-91410-2. 2Q 4P M J Copyright 2001 Voya Reviews
