“THE ADVENTURES OF LETTIE PEPPERCORN,” by Sam Gayton and Poly Bernatene, Margaret K. McElderry Books, Feb. 2, 2016, Hardcover, $16.99 (ages 8-12)
First paragraphs are important introductions for readers. They set the scene, and in the case of “The Adventures of Lettie Peppercorn,” the first paragraph invites you to come in and stay for a while:
“On a winter night so cold and dark the fires froze in their hearths, snow came to Albion. It came packed up in the suitcase of a stranger. Lettie was the first to see him.”
Lettie Peppercorn does not leave her house. Just before disappearing, Lettie’s Ma warned her to never set foot in town. And so Lettie’s father raised their house/inn up on stilts, and the girl’s life of self-imposed seclusion began. Things weren’t bad for a while, until her father began drinking and gambling, leaving Lettie to run their inn on her own with nothing but a pigeon and the wind for friends.
The night the stranger appears changes everything for Lettie. The stranger claims to be the greatest alchemist in the land, and he’s arrived at Lettie’s inn to sell her his newest invention — snow.
As enticing and exciting as the prospect of owning snow is, Lettie guesses there’s more to the alchemist’s story. When she learns the alchemist knows where her Ma is, she sets caution to the wind and ventures into the world outside.
I’m a fan of quirky, and “The Adventures of Lettie Peppercorn” is definitely quirky. It has a sort of Roald Dahl-esque feel to it. The novel is carried by a cast of imaginative and colorful characters — from Lettie to the Alchemist to a young boy with a green shoot growing from his shoulder. These players are the reason you keep turning pages. An added bonus comes in the form of whimsical illustrations that at times make you feel like you’ve escaped into Wonderland.
“The Adventures of Lettie Peppercorn” is a fun adventure that should appeal to boys and girls and their parents.
