This is exactly the kind of book many kids need (*note at the bottom for the exceptions), but may not see as it’s a fantasy and not shelved for kids in many systems.  How do I know they need it anyway?  Cause it was the saving grace for our family this past week.

And…speaking of last week, let me take half a moment here to apologize for not getting a post up!  Between the cold bug, our traveling, and sending my son off, blogging was washed away in the flood.  Figuring out what to put at the top of the list at times like that can be tricky, and meeting a sickie-chickie younger child’s needs when her big brother is heading off to South Korea for two years, especially so!  But, Jim Hine’s Goblin Quest came (staggering) to the rescue.

Our copy is one that’s bounced around the family for about a decade.  It’s tattered, and the cover is splitting at the spine.  My son read it (and the others in the trilogy) and loved it many years ago, and may have shared it with a friend or two.  One such friend being his mother.  But, I never really expected it to be my daughter’s thing.  She lacks her brother’s fine-tuned appreciation for all things gross and shocking, and I thought the frequent suggestions that Jig, hero of Goblin Quest, wouldn’t mind eating his companions would ick her out.  As it happened, the opposite was true.  Jig and Smudge (his pet fire-spider) worked a kind of magic on her and helped her through a trying time.  Since she had a pretty bad cold through the most intense days of our travel, she asked me to read to her some nights, and I got reacquainted with Jig and his fellow adventurers, myself.

So, what’s the deal with this story?  Well, it’s about a scrawny little goblin that could best be described as a dweeb amongst the dweebiest race in all fantasy-earth.  He’s put upon and bullied, and widely considered a coward.  He also makes an unlikely hero because he not only thinks wishfully how nice his companions would taste, he doesn’t understand why anyone would have any other perspective.  Bury the dead?  What a waste of good eats!  However, he’s got his own honor code and he’s smart enough to learn from his companions–the adventurers take him captive as their guide after his fellow goblins fail to stop them–while seeing through those failings which hold them back.  Moreover, his utterly rational perspective means he doesn’t resent his status as the uncouth goblin in the midst of more worthy souls, even as he proves himself to be made of finer stuff than the rest of them.

The book often gets reviewed as a spoof on the table top game Dungeons and Dragons, and it does have a lot of fun references to the larger world of fantasy.  I particularly enjoyed one moment when the dwarf is attempting to comfort a member of the party who has had their fingers reduced by one, telling them that lots of adventurers nowadays get by with nine fingers and do just fine.  ‘Like the little fellow with a dark lord’s trinket, whose name I can’t recall’.  But, I don’t think it’s fair to say you need to be a fantasy fan to enjoy Goblin Quest.  Certainly you don’t have to play D&D, since neither myself or my kids have played, and we all enjoyed the novel.  I do think that the plot gets a bit slow in the middle, when it appears that the party is going nowhere (sorry–that should probably come with a spoiler alert!) and the reader may wonder where the book is going.  However, the intrepid reader should hang in there, as the coolest twists are yet to come, and the book is merely demonstrating that the journey should impact and matter just as much as the destination.

So, let’s see what Apricot-kitty thought of it:

“Too many caves, water that acts weirder than even water ought, and way too much tasteless bread.  That Jig was alright, but I liked the elf girl best.  I’d like to hear the story where she’s the hero!”

Small surprise there since, if you think about it, elves are rather like cats.  But, I promised above to discuss *which kids might not want to read this story.  The story was not written for kids, I don’t believe, and makes a reference here and there to odd amorous behavior of the gods, and such.  Truth, it’s not any worse (imho) than the kids are exposed to by fifth grade when they study greek mythology, and is very vague so will go over most kids’ heads.  However, a terribly inquisitive or imaginative youngster could find in the book’s discussion of religion some potentially embarrassing questions.  It’s also got the above mentioned suggestions of cannibalism, otherwise known as everything-goes-in-the-stew-pot cooking, and some zombie warriors pop out at one point, among other things.  Not for the youngest readers, perhaps, or the most sensitive.

Next week I’ll be posting the previously scheduled post slotted for today (say that five times fast!) and until then, I wish you a happy Marvelous Middle Grade Monday.  For more spotlights, interviews, reviews and giveaways, stop by Shannon Messenger’s blog, and happy reading!

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