The Unseen Guest

Starred review from January 18, 2010
In this humorous kickoff to the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series, Wood (My Life: The Musical
) injects new life into the governess theme by charging genteel 15-year-old Penelope Lumley (educated at the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females) with three wild children—Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia—who were raised in the woods and taken into the “care” of Lord Frederic Ashton and his selfish, superficial bride (the children are living in a barn when Penelope arrives). With a Snicketesque affect, Wood's narrative propels the drama; Penelope is a standout, often invoking the truisms of her school's founder (“The best way to find out how fast a horse can run is to smack it on the rump”) while caring for the Incorrigibles—named such so they won't be presumed Ashton's heirs. Despite the slapstick situations involving the children's disheveled appearance, pack behavior, and lack of language, the real barbarism comes from the Ashtons and a society that eagerly anticipates their failure. Though the novel ends a bit abruptly, the pervasive humor and unanswered questions should have readers begging for more. Final art not seen by PW
. Ages 8–12.

April 1, 2012

Gr 4-6-Those incorrigible children of Ashton Place are back. The story is rife with colorful characters, catchy phrases, mad-cap adventure, and a touch of mystery. Tantalizing pieces of the puzzle concerning the children's origins and their connection to Miss Lumley and Ashton Place continue to be cleverly revealed throughout the story, creating just the right balance in this fast-paced, fun read. It begins with the appearance of a stray ostrich, soon followed by the Widow Ashton and Admiral Faucet, pronounced Faw-say, who plans on raising, racing, and marketing ostrich as a means to a fortune. His plans also include marrying wealthy Widow Ashton. Faucet is fascinated by the feral Incorrigible children, suggesting that they be used as exhibitions in a traveling show. He's mollified to have them lead the search for his missing ostrich, Bertha, in the nearby forest. Once back in the forest in which they were found, the children revert to many of their wolfish ways, much to Miss Lumley's chagrin. Bertha is found, but all of Faucet's schemes come crumbling down with the appearance of Judge Quinzy. Or is it really the Widow Ashton's late husband? Quinzy/Ashton doesn't stick around long enough for a definitive answer, but his widow is convinced of his identity and cancels her engagement to Faucet. He departs, and readers are left with an epilogue that only whets the appetite for the next installment in this wonderful series. A must-have.-Mary Beth Rassulo, Ridgefield Library, CT

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2012
Resilient as ever, in the third installment of Wood's deliciously melodramatic Victorian mystery teenage governess Penelope Lumley takes on threats to her wolfish young charges that include a hustler after the Ashton fortune. The unexpected sighting of an ostrich among the larks and thrushes in the woods near Ashton Place heralds the arrival of bluff Admiral Albert Faucet ("That's faw-say, my good man. Not faucet"). Once he meets the three feral children Penelope is charged with training up to be human, Faucet's scheme to finance the introduction of ostrich racing to the British Isles by marrying the Dowager Lady Ashton is transformed to visions of wolf racing and sideshow exhibitions. Fortunately Penelope, proud graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, is not only up to that challenge but numerous others. These range from actually riding the aforementioned ostrich and meeting a pack of oversize, strangely intelligent wolves (if wolves they be) to orchestrating a climactic seance designed to contact the Dowager's first husband, drowned (purportedly) in the medicinal tar pits at Gooden-Baden. Along with gleefully pitching her plucky protagonist into one crisis after another, punctuated by authorial disquisitions on similes, rhetorical questions, contagious punning and other linguistic follies, the author slips in a few more seemingly significant Clues to the Ashtons' curious history and Penelope's apparent involvement in it. Still howling good fun, though the series' big Reveal doesn't seem any closer than before. (Melodrama. 10-12)

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Starred review from March 15, 2012
Grades 4-7 *Starred Review* To recap: three children raised by wolves have been taken in by Lord Ashton. His new wife does not care for them. The nanny, 15-year-old Penelope, champions them. In the previous two books in the series, Penny uses her kindness and the skills learned at Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females to tame and train the threesome, and progress has been made! They can draw, recite poetry, and do sums. They howl much less frequently. But now, Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia are being lured back to the woods in search of a wayward ostrich, and who can say what will happen to them there? Told with the same good humor, delicious wordplay, and sly mystery of the previous books, this entry can't quite stand alone (although Wood makes a game effort to delicately insert backstory). Fans, however, will be simply delighted with the new adventures (cave dwelling!) and the new characters (wolves!). More clues are dropped as to the origins of both the children and Penelope herself, who has not seen her own parents since childhood. As the mistress of proverbs, Agatha Swanburne (and the runaway ostrich), might note, one mustn't put one's head in the sand. In the next book, Penny will do well to heed that advice, as the clues are piling up. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: This continues to be one of the cleverest series around, and its fans are legion. The cliff-hanger ending will keep them waiting impatiently. Good thing Wood writes fast!(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2012
The adventures of plucky governess Penelope Lumley and her three raised-by-wolves charges continue, with somewhat less purpose than in the previous series entries. First they go on a hunt through the forest for a missing ostrich; then take part in a siance with a mysterious outcome. Still, the narrative balances action, humor, and tongue-in-cheek "edification"--whether on acronyms, literature, or famous philosophers--with a light touch.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)