Abarat

Gr 7–10—Candy Quackenbush is having a bad day in the third book (HarperCollins, 2011) in the series by Clive Barker. She shares her body with the soul of the evil princess, Boa, bent on killing her. Candy's father, back in the hereafter (Earth), has turned into an evangelical nut bent on killing her. Candy's arch nemesis, Mater Motley, is determined to cause absolute darkness to fall over the Abarat…and wants to kill her. Fortunately, Candy not only has a host of peculiar friends who help her but also comes into her own magical power and strength in this installment. The text is overly wordy with descriptions that interfere with the dialogue and bring the action to a crawl. The plot is a bit of a mess. Dozens of times, Candy comes to the very abyss and is inexplicably saved from destruction. The introduction of a love interest rings false. Richard Ferrone's narration is the bright spot. He gives each character a distinctive voice and wrings every bit of humor and pathos out of the text in an astonishing performance. Listeners must have listened to/read the first two books in the series to understand this installment. Despite its flaws, the series has a following. Add this audiobook to your collection if the library is already circulating the first two titles. Two more books are planned.—Tricia Melgaard, formerly Broken Arrow Public Schools, Tulsa, OK