The Creakers

Gr 3-5–When all of the adults disappear from the town of Whiffington, Lucy Dungston makes it her mission to find them and bring them back. She learns that the Creakers, garbage-eating monsters who live beneath the floorboards under children’s beds, are responsible. To get the adults back, Lucy must go into the Woleb, the Creakers’ world. With help from a few other children in the town, she discovers a way in—but can she get the adults out? The frequent authorial interjections (“OK, so things are about to get a little scary. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”) indicate that the story is supposed to be frightening, but most readers will find the bumbling Creakers more funny than scary, and Lucy and her friends never appear to be in any real danger. There’s plenty of humor, some of it mildly scatological, but nothing too gross. Plentiful illustrations add to the book’s wacky charm, and the narrative ends with Lucy and the townspeople finding a way to live in harmony with the Creakers, rather than in a pitched battle.