Not the most eventful book, but it was funny! ( )

children's adventure/fantasy fiction. This book starts at the beginning saying, don't worry, something extraordinary is going to happen to this otherwise unremarkable boy, but then NOTHING REALLY HAPPENS FOR AT LEAST 100 PAGES OR SO. For a kids' book, that is an astonishing lack of action. I think it would still do ok as a readaloud-at-bedtime-to-put-kids-to-sleep sort of thing, and it was almost interesting enough for me to keep reading, but in the end I decided the watercolor and ink drawings were the most charming thing about it (they are superb). ( )

A quirky, mysterious first in a series (of two, so far; the next title is The Doldrums and the Helmsley Curse) featuring Archer B. Helmsley, who wishes to be an adventurer like his grandparents, Ralph and Rachel - but his mother will barely let him out of the house. He eventually makes friends with his next-door neighbor Oliver Glub, whose father runs The Doldrums Press, and the two of them make friends with a new neighbor, Adelaide Belmont, whose father runs a coffee shop; they moved from Paris after a freak accident (pigeons, bakery truck, lamppost) resulted in Adelaide losing a leg and her career as a ballerina. Together, they plan a trip to Antarctica, to see if Archer's grandparents are still alive and rescue them if they are. This plan does not come to fruition, but they do have a very exciting trip to the local museum that involves loose tigers, and Archer discovers that his grandparents, when they weren't traveling, lived quite close by - so why was he never allowed to see them? The story ends on the news that Ralph and Rachel are alive after all.

Beautiful, sepia-toned illustrations accompany and enhance the text (Gannon also did the illustrations for Bob by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass).

See also: The Expeditioners

Quotes

It's a curious thing, however, that when you're trying to be extra careful, you always end up doing something careless. (92)

...the consequences of failing and getting caught would be great. But consequences don't matter when they're connected to something you have to do. (103)

"I don't think you should assume anything."
"But it's obvious..."
"Obvious is not always right."
(Adelaide and Oliver, 256)

"You can't do that."
"Sometimes you have to do what you want even when others think you're crazy."
(Oliver and Adelaide, 267) ( )

This is a weird comment to start off a review, but it needs to be said. This book is HEAVY. It was a constant distraction while reading. All I can attribute it to is the high quality paper it's printed on. It's thick, glossy paper that supports real art work. Seriously. If you don't mind ruining a book, you could cut out the art, frame it, and hang it on the wall. It's that good.

This is a hard book to classify. It's tragic, but optimistic at the same time. Archer's grandparents are famous explorers who were last seen on an iceberg in Antarctica. No one knows if they are alive or dead. Archer admires them. In fact, he wants to find them. But he's got several problems. First, there's his mother who keeps him safely protected from the hazards of adventure. In order to go anywhere he has to sneak out of his house via Oliver's house. The houses on his street are extremely close together, so this is an advantage for Archer. His second problem is Mrs. Murkley, his neighbor and teacher. She is a ruthless tyrant, making the children's lives a living hell. She nearly drives Archer into a rage every time she mentions how foolish his grandparents are.

Then there's the two friends, Oliver and Adelaide. Oliver is not much of an adventurer. He reluctantly goes along with Archer's plan to rescue his grandparents, but makes it clear he's not ready to die. Adelaide has just to moved to the neighborhood with her wooden leg. Her real leg supposedly became a nice meal for a Nile crocodile. Or so she wants you to believe. Her life isn't quite turning out as exciting as she had hoped, so she is all in for this intended Antarctica rescue.

So there you have it. Some wildly quirky characters. I loved all of them. Even Mrs. Merkley had my envy because she was such a perfect antagonist. And the odd tidbits of information appearing out of nowhere are simply divine. How can you not love a book where a cat eats cement powder and well...use your imagination. ( )

I love books that have dreamer main characters.

I like sensible characters well enough. When you open a book with a sensible main character, you know you’re in for a ride full of resistance. They don’t want to be swept away with the tide but forces beyond their control cause that to happen regardless.

With dreamers, though, they’re ready. Swept away or floating away (on an iceberg, mind you), they want something big and magical and unnecessary to happen. They’re ready for it. And that’s what this book and its main character, Archer Helmsley, gives us.

As you can see in the above paragraphs, everyone knew Archer would be a dreamer from the moment he was born and I think that’s a sweet way to look at it, as if dreaminess isn’t something that just happens, but something that’s always there. Archer comes from a long line of dreamers- his grandparents are world explorers and his Dad, while a being a sensible lawyer, also seems to be a bit of dreamer… even if his wife disapproves.

Archer grows up in his grandparents house a lonely boy. While his grandparents explore the world and his dad practices law, Archer’s mom is determined to make him a sensible boy. After his grandparents go missing (they’ve floated away on iceberg in Antarctica), she becomes even more obsessed with taming Archer’s “tendencies” and the boy is only allowed to leave the house to go to school.

But Archer isn’t easily tamed and is determined to find his grandparents AND have a grand adventure.

I absolutely adored the friendship between our three main characters. Archer and Oliver become friends after Archer decides he needs a sidekick. While Oliver doesn’t much care for adventure, none of Archer’s plans ever pan out and Oliver just wants a friend… so he lets Archer prattle on about these wild schemes… and slow lets the wind out of Archer’s sails. Adelaide is Archer’s new neighbor- a former ballerina who lost her leg after an accident involving a bakery truck and a lamp post. Instead of telling everyone the truth, Adelaide tells her new classmates and friends that she lost her leg after an alligator attacked her and her mother when they had to parachute into the Nile. Archer, being a dreamy kid, believes her and asks her to join him and Oliver in finding his grandparents. While they’re prepping for this adventure, the three become inseparable and all three get what they need: Oliver, friendship; Archer, adventure; Adelaide, confidants.

This book is loaded with super beautiful illustrations. I hardly ever think of how well a book is put together but I was really surprised at how heavy it was when it arrived. The paper is super thick (which makes me feel much more confident about letting my younger godkids look through it) and the whole thing just felt really sturdy. I love, love, love the art style of the book… and I’m trying to convince myself that I DON’T need a tattoo of any of the illustrations.

The only issue I had with the book was the depiction of its main villain. I’m really tired of middle grade and young adult books making their matronly villains fat just so they can constantly talk about their size. While I understand Mrs. Murkley was supposed to be a very “Miss Trunchbull” character (think “I’m big, you’re little” intimidation), it’s tiresome to see and it doesn’t resonate with me as a reader. When I was in school, the meanest teacher I ever had was also the smallest and the biggest teacher I had was the most motherly and caring.

Again, I loved this book. This was a perfect adventure and I can’t wait to get the sequel.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves adventures, friendships, and young dreamers trying to make the most out of their lives. ( )