Complete the Quest: The Poisonous Library

Written and illustrated by Brian McLachlan

Imprint

978-1-250-26829-7

128 pp.

Ages 8-12

June 2021

For those middle-graders who want an adventure that is uniquely their own, or for those who love RPGs and have been told to get off their tech, or for those who love a good story with amazing characters, humour, and fantasy worlds of surprising elements, Brian McLachlan's Complete the Quest: The Poisonous Library ticks all the boxes.

From Complete the Quest: The Poisonous Library by Brian McLachlan

To undertake their quest in the world of Chimeria, readers are invited to pick a team of three heroes from Javen the Elven Druid; Coran the Human Priest; Blade the Flowerkin Sneak; Zix the Dragonfolk Wizard; and Crax and Tonk the Dwarven Barbarian Brothers. Each has unique powers and optional backstories about family, fears and habits which will help the reader complete the quest.

From Complete the Quest: The Poisonous Library by Brian McLachlan

And the quest? Queen Evergreen, who rules over Chimeria, with her friend and advisor Marisha and daughter Princess Violet, has been gifted with a poisonous book, imbued with bad magic. Instead of working towards keeping harmony with all the people of Chimeria as she has always done, she begins to see Marisha as tricking her into discriminating against the human-like Kith. She tries to fight it but she slips into a deep sleep. While her people look for the source of the book, the heroes of the story, i.e., whoever readers have chosen, are tasked with searching out the five ingredients needed to cure her of the book's poison. These include a star diamond, a blank lotus, a ghost cloud, a dragon lime and a skrim (a water creature).

Like the original pen-and-paper role-playing game of Dungeons and Dragons, it's advised that young readers keep track of their characters and their abilities as well as the items they acquire or lose, including different coloured pearls. 

From Complete the Quest: The Poisonous Library by Brian McLachlan

As they enter realms that include caverns and a maze, a jungle, the mountains, the sky and a spheramid, your heroes meet centaurpedes, phantomcap mushrooms, rock blobs, dragonfolk bandits and more. There are opportunities to join forces with others like the Flowerkin Glowvin or the bard Harmony but it's all up to the reader how the quest will be completed.

From Complete the Quest: The Poisonous Library by Brian McLachlan

The fun thing about Complete the Quest: The Poisonous Library is that Brian McLachlan has set it up so that the quest is always completed and young players (readers?) don't have to worry that they will be killed off before achieving their mission. Even better, they can complete the mission repeatedly but with different combinations of heroes with different backstories while altering their selections along the way. There will always be laughs with riddles and jokes, a fart elemental or a ghost barf, and much play with words like the Widow the Wisp and the Hot Steppers.

 

But the artwork is what will draw young readers in. It's vibrant and imaginative, fantastic in its diversity of characters and elements, landscapes and stories. Brian McLachlan bases his characters in animals, plants, humans and otherwise. They use different pronouns, i.e., she/her, he/him and they/them, and are coloured everything from purple or brown to green and pink. These differences, in fact, are what the poisonous book wants to use to separate Chimeria, encouraging discrimination and strife between distinct creatures. Thankfully the Queen recognizes that the book was a mask "to hide the truth and frighten us with a false image" (pg. 102) and that "We might look different, but we share universal needs and feelings." (pg. 103)

He will get kids reading and imaginatively playing with Complete the Quest: The Poisonous Library while paying homage to books and book people–there are books everywhere and librarians and readers galore–but Toronto cartoonist Brian McLachlan has made some powerful statements about diversity and inclusiveness and done so with colour and whimsy. This is certainly a quest worth undertaking.

Snazzy Cat Capers series: Guest review

 This review was written by teacher Elizabeth Cook.

 

Written by Deanna Kent

Illustrated by Neil Hooson

Imprint (Macmillan)

This series has been sitting in my TBR pile for quite some time and I am regretting how long it has taken me to get to this treasure by Deanna Kent and Neil Hooson. This middle grade series, which blends the text of novels with black-and-white graphic novel artwork, focuses on cat burglar Ophelia Von Hairball V, a fun and fabulous character who is a fusion of master criminal (though she always returns the stolen goods), secret agent and glamorous diva. Because I was instantly hooked by the globetrotting cat adventures, entertaining characters, and witty word play, I devoured the first three books in the series (see details below) in just two days and am already hoping that at least one more book will follow. 

Snazzy Cat Capers 

(Book 1)

Written by Deanna Kent

Illustrated by Neil Hooson

Imprint (Macmillan)

978-1-250211149

240 pp.

Ages 7-10

2018

 

In the first book of the series, we are introduced to Ophelia Von Hairball V.  She is a classy cat burglar who steals only the most precious items from around the world to enjoy at her house. But, after she's played with the trinkets, she always returns them to their owners, since keeping them would make her a criminal! While she loves the glitz and glimmer of her sparkly treasures, it is the thrill of the chase that she enjoys most and she is quite good at it too!  Ophelia Von Hairball V is the #1 rated cat burglar in the FFBI (Furry Feline Burglary Institute). This title is hard earned as the dogs of CCIA (Central Canine Intelligence Agency) are always on her tail, as is her evil uni-browed cousin, Pierre, who regularly ranks at #2 because of his sloppy execution. Though the FFBI provides their agents with access to inventors, Ophelia prefers to work alone, though she finds inventor Oscar Fishgerald Gold, a hard-working goldfish, useful and so she keeps him around...but at a paw’s length. In this book, the FFBI have challenged their cats to steal a rare Himalayan diamond and deliver it to headquarters for the opportunity to earn the top spot. Using her cunning, Oscar's incredible gadgets, a good plan and the ability to think on her paws, Ophelia is determined to hold onto her top ranking, even if she has to evade the CCIA and her evil cousin Pierre to do so.

 

The Fast and the Furriest 

(Snazzy Cat Capers, Book 2)

Written by Deanna Kent

Illustrated by Neil Hooson

Imprint (Macmillan)

978-1-250143471

224 pp.

Ages 7-10

2019

 

The second book in the series starts with the theft of the valuable Secret Claw from FFBI’s vault. This device emits a red laser beam so strong that it can control all of the cats around the world. Naturally, the dogs of CCIA want control of this device to prevent thefts by the cats. Ophelia, as the FFBI's top cat burglar, is tasked with travelling the world to locate the three pieces of the device and return them safely to the Institute's vault. Ophelia plans to use her panache and global connections to help steal the components back, though she knows that the CCIA and her cousin Pierre will be out to thwart her efforts. Luckily, she has her fin-ventor, Oscar, and their loyal invention P.U.G. (Personal Ultra Gadget) to help her.

 

Meow or Never 

(Snazzy Cat Capers, Book 3)

Written by Deanna Kent

Illustrated by Neil Hooson

Imprint (Macmillan)

978-1-250143495

224 pp.

Ages 7-10

2020

In Ophelia Von Hairball V's third book, the feline burglar is presented with perhaps her greatest challenge yet.  Every cat burglar has been instructed to steal the most valuable item they can and bring it to FFBI headquarters for judging within seventy-two hours.  For a cat burglar of her calibre, stealing is the easy part. For Ophelia, though, the real challenge is working cooperatively in a team, as each burglar must work with an inventor to demonstrate that "teamwork makes the dream work." Having fired 16 previous inventors before Oscar Fishgerald Gold, and relentlessly trying to give Oscar the slip on every mission, Ophelia needs to learn how to cooperate with her team if she is to be successful on this mission. Fortunately, Oscar creates many fabulous disguises and inventions to keep Ophelia interested and readers entertained, including the O.M.G. (Ophelia Mew-bile Go) car which boasts endless modes, including pirate, cuppa-tea and leprechaun, and which comes in very handy as they travel across the globe to steal a jewelled purple sceptre. Now if Ophelia can out-manoeuvre her evil cousin Pierre and the CCIA, she is sure to win this competition paws down!

I highly recommend this series for its fun themes of cat and mouse, or should I say cat and dog! Young readers will enjoy delving into Snazzy Cat Capers themselves but older readers will also appreciate the humour and be encouraged to read them aloud to younger children.  I especially enjoyed the oodles of puns including “paw-rtner”, “fin-tastic”, and “hiss-tory.” In fact, almost every chapter title is a clever play on words that will make adults and astute young readers chuckle. Moreover, every chapter is preceded by a quote from Ophelia Von Hairball V that is a misappropriation of a famous line from history. A few of my favourites include: "To be fabulous or not to be fabulous? That is the question. Except it is a ridiculous question because we all know the answer" and "I came. I clawed. I conquered."  The clever wit embedded throughout the series will definitely entertain readers of all ages.

 

 

~ Reviewer Elizabeth Cook is a teacher in the Halton District School Board. She is an avid reader and fan of Canadian literature.  

 

Con Quest!: Guest review

This review was written by teacher Elizabeth Cook.

Written by Sam Maggs

Imprint

978-1-250307279

256 pp.

Ages 8-12

June 2020

Con Quest! by Sam Maggs is a middle grade novel that centers around eleven-year-old twin siblings, Cat and Alex, who attend a comic convention with their comic-writing parents and extremely unenthusiastic fourteen-year old-sister Fi. Though Fi has been tasked with babysitting the twins while their parents participate in panel sessions, headstrong Cat has other plans, managing to sneak out with her brother Alex to complete a series of insane tasks as part of a scavenger hunt Quest at the comic con.  Winning is paramount for them as the prize is time with the handsome celebrity Corwin Blake and a mentorship for budding comic artists. Winning the challenge will be tough enough for the young twins but it's even more complicated when they have to avoid Fi and the overzealous security at the convention. 

This novel is a bit of a departure from my typical reading choices.  Because I know my students would love the story, I wanted to read it. Still, never being into comics, superheroes, and fandoms, I was a little hesitant to read a book about a comic convention. After all, I have only seen one Star Wars movie (my boyfriend got to pick the movie that night), I can’t tell you which superheroes are DC vs. Marvel, and my only real knowledge of anything sci-fi or fantasy is based in Harry Potter of which I am a big fan. Still I really wanted to see if the twins would be successful in completing their Con Quest and Sam Maggs does an exceptional job of placing the reader at that comic con. As a reader, the energy and exhilaration of the convention was palpable, from the jostling among the crowds, trying to meet favourite comic writers and actors, and even running around in decoupaged shoes (worth 19 points)!

Sam Maggs does an excellent job of ensuring diversity among her Con Quest characters. Cat’s parents are from Slovakia and, when they speak to their kids, it's in Slovakian which was of great interest to me as a reader. Alex has autism and struggles with large crowds which poses a challenge for him at a crowded comic convention. However, his family knows how to help him when he requires it while allowing him the independence to run around the convention all day completing the challenges. (A ketchup and relish portrait for 40 points!) Moreover, this novel is enriched with a number of LGBTQ+ characters and addresses the issue of personal pronouns including how preferred gender and non binary terms are added to convention badges.

Regardless of my typical reading preferences, Con Quest was a perfect read. It is fast-paced, fun, engaging, and a little nail-biting at times.  While I might not be a weird mega fan like Fi would say...I am a little weird in my own way.  As Sam Maggs wrote in the acknowledgement section at the back, “And to you my reader!  Embrace your wacky, your weird, your wonderful!”  So, I will!

 • • • • •

~ Reviewer Elizabeth Cook is a teacher in the Halton District School Board. She is an avid reader and fan of Canadian literature.