👍The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science: Secrets of the Purple Pearl

 By Kate McKinnon

4Rbooks                                        4/6                                          grades         4-8

Amazon                                         4.8/5                                       grade level 3-7

Goodreads                                     4.37/5     

Common Sense Media               5/5                                          ages 8+

235 pages

Synopsis

The Porch sisters were sent to a boarding school in Austria where they are doing well but unfortunately fail the final exam. They decided to escape and are reunited with the Mad Scientist Millicent Quibb. She has tracked them down to help her with an important mission, to stop the KRA plans at the Purple Pearl Hotel.

Years before a Purple Pearl had been lost at the bottom of Lake Kagloopy. In the middle of the lake is a volcanic vent which is plugged by plugfish.  Otherwise, the lava would boil the water away leaving the purple pearl visible and available to steal. The KRA is ready to use a shrimpmaid to lure the plugfish away and take the purple pearl for their evil purposes.

The sisters, Gertrude, Eugenia, and Dee-Dee work with Millicent to stop the KRA. They discover their adoptive parents and sisters are there too, which makes the job even more difficult.

Parental Guidelines:   low

The children are locked in a closet and tied together.

The children have been bullied in the past.

The children are put in some dangerous, fantasy-type situations.

People drink champagne and men smoke cigars.

At the end a corpse is seemingly brought back to life.

Recommendation

            This is the second book in a series. I’m getting the feeling this could be like A Series of Unfortunate Events with many, many more books to come. Book 3 is due in September. Like the first book, this is a silly and fun read with strange creatures, crazy adventures, and magical mysterious science. Readers of all abilities should enjoy the story.

            This book would work as a read-aloud, class read, or individual read. It would be useful for discussions on differences, appreciating talents, recognizing your unique individuality, and working together as a team.