Once upon a very badly behaved time, 511-year-old Ebenezer kept a beast in his attic. He would feed the beast all manner of objects and creatures and in return the beast would vomit him up expensive presents. But then the Bethany arrived.
Now notorious prankster Bethany, along with her new feathery friend Claudette, is determined that she and Ebenezer are going to de-beast their lives and Do Good. But Bethany finds that being a former prankster makes it hard to get taken on for voluntary work. And Ebenezer secretly misses the beast’s vomity gifts. And neither of them are all that sure what “good people” do anyway.
Then there’s Claudette, who’s not been feeling herself recently. Has she eaten something that has disagreed with her?
Book source ~ Tour
Jack Meggitt-Phillips
30 September 2021
Middle Grade | Fantasy
240 Pages
My Rating ~ 4 bites
Ebenezer is 511 years old and for the first time in about 5 centuries he’s without the Beast. But he does have Bethany, the formerly beastly orphan he’s taken under his wing. And Claudette the parrot. Bethany decides they need to start doing good (they’re unsure what that entails), but a decent start would be getting rid of all the things the Beast has vomited up for Ebenezer over the years. However, something weird is going on and Claudette is acting strange on top of that. Can they figure it out before it all goes to heck in a handbasket?
This is a wonderfully horrible tale that anyone, both young and old, would love. There’s so much going on! Ebenezer and Bethany, well, mostly Bethany, have decided they need to do good instead of bad, but aren’t quite sure what that means. So, they ask around. One thing Bethany is determined to do is get rid of the things the Beast has vomited up for Ebenezer over the years. All those creatures and things Ebenezer fed to the Beast just so he could get all the items currently crammed into his house, it’s just not right. So Bethany sells them. Except, something weird is going on. Then there’s Claudette. What’s up with her? Ebenezer and Bethany are so wrapped up in their own issues they can’t see what’s happening to their parrot friend right in front of their eyes. Is it true, about not being able to teach an old dog new tricks? I hope for their sake it isn’t!
Jack Meggitt-Phillips is an author, scriptwriter, and playwright whose work has been performed at The Roundhouse and featured on Radio 4. He is scriptwriter and presenter of The History of Advertising podcast. In his mind, Jack is an enormously talented ballroom dancer, however his enthusiasm far surpasses his actual talent. Jack lives in north London where he spends most of his time drinking peculiar teas and reading P.G. Wodehouse novels.
No comments:
Post a Comment