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Library | Call Number | Status |
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Searching... Salem Main Library | J Krisp, C. | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Are you ready for Ivy Pocket? A darkly whimsical and wickedly funny tale of a twelve-year-old maid of no importance who finds herself at the very heart of a conspiracy involving mischief, ghosts, and murder. School Library Journal says, "Fans of . . . Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events will love Ivy Pocket's zany adventures." Featuring extensive black-and-white interior art by Barbara Cantini.
Ivy Pocket is a walking disaster, at every turn enraging and appalling the aristocrats she works for. But our protagonist doesn't see herself that way at all. In fact, she's convinced that she's rather wonderful, perfectly charming, and extremely talented. When Ivy finds herself abandoned and penniless in Paris, she has no idea how she will get back to England. Fate intervenes when Ivy is called to the sickbed of a dying duchess and is charged with delivering a spectacular (and possibly cursed) diamond necklace to Matilda Butterfield on her twelfth birthday. From that moment on, Ivy Pocket is propelled towards her remarkable destiny in a surprising adventure full of intrigue, villains, mayhem, and misunderstandings. ALA Booklist calls Anyone but Ivy Pocket "A droll chapter book with a Victorian setting and a one-of-a-kind protagonist."
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
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 (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
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. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
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 herand why can't she die? Ivy is a rarityan unreliable middle-grade narratorand 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) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
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.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2015 Booklist