Fasten your seat belts because this book is over-the-top in every possible way, and it is a glorious thing to behold. This mad-cap adventure follows three orphaned sisters who are not like everyone else in their quaint little town. Down on their luck, their paths cross with the infamous Millicent Quibb, and things become progressively stranger from that moment on. Fresh, preposterous, humorous, slightly sarcastic, and at time flashing some dark humor, this book is not your average middle grade read.
An excellent choice for young readers who like the outlandish, worms, science, silliness, and what-not, the book has charming illustrations. Likely this will distract the young reader from the fact that they are ingesting some amazing and hefty vocabulary.
The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science would make an excellent read-aloud. And if one isn’t up to the task, the audiobooks is read by the author and her sister, and wow, again, there is nothing as “too much” in this audio experience. The voicing is fabulous with sound effects thrown in for good measure. A PDF is provided with the audiobook so that the listener doesn’t miss out on the visuals.
Thank you, Kate McKinnon, for one of the most delightful reads of the year.
Review of the unabridged audiobook
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 2 religious exclamations.
Violence/Gore: Reference to pickled brains and other things that a mad scientist might have/use; creature uses its intestines to grab/stop characters from escaping; character makes jokes about pickled and candied brains; destruction of property; attempt by characters to harm a bat (bat is safe in the end); creepy/humorous scene where characters are trapped in a room with some worms; scrapes and bumps; many outrageous (for humorous effect) statements about creatures, etc. and what they can do (e.g. eat your brains, etc.); reference to a dark society of mad science that was bent on destruction; reading from a diary about a ruler that wanted/did/threatened to murder other people; character says that spouse murders animals (hunting); reference that to grow a creature to its full size one would need to feed it at least half a dead horse; plot to kill animals; creature eats some animals/pets.
Sex/Nudity: None
Mature Subject Matter:
Orphans, secret societies (dark mad scientists), loneliness and feelings of low self-worth.
Alcohol/Drug Content:
Adult smokes a cigar.
