August 15, 2022
Two siblings attempt to rescue their missing father and save the creative world. The Rev. Marcus Drake, creator of the Max Courageous comic books, leaves his children--11-year-old Everett and 8-year-old Bea--with housekeeper Mrs. Crimp in their London vicarage to go to Scotland on secret business. After his train crashes, a nurse who helped their father after the accident delivers his fountain pen, which has magical healing properties, and with it the hope that he may have survived. An adventure ensues involving magical Ink, a substance used by Inklings through the ages for creative purposes. Inklings are committed to protecting Ink from eradication by blotters and their dye hounds. The siblings rescue Trey, an injured boy who has lost most of his memories and who may have answers they need. It emerges that Bea, Everett, and Trey just may be Inklings too, and it is not only the Rev. Drake's life at stake, but also the survival of the last Inkwell in the world. Action-packed and full of imaginative worldbuilding, the story's stakes are palpable. Readers will enjoy spotting literary references to works such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and A Wrinkle in Time. Whiteness is clearly the default; Trey's father is from India, and his mother's Englishness is equated with Whiteness. Despite the presence of some complex Western names in the work, Trey's real given name, Purushottam, is described as too difficult and cause for sympathy. A high-stakes literary adventure that falls short in representation. (map) (Fantasy. 8-12)
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October 10, 2022
A reverend’s children seek to preserve the rare, magical Ink that’s long fueled creativity in debut author Peabody’s uneven series opener. In the early 1950s, 11-year-old Everett and eight-year-old Bea live in a London vicarage with their clergyman father, who uses Ink to create the Max Courageous comics for which he is known. When he heads to Scotland to conduct a secret mission, public use of the liquid attracts attention, leading to a terrible train accident that leaves him presumed dead. With his fountain pen delivered to Max and Bea, who present as white, the two become aware of the long conflict between Inklings, a worldwide force of creators who defend and use Ink, and inhuman “blotters,” who seek to destroy the Ink and those who would use it. They also find that they’re in danger of becoming the blotters’ next target. Partnering with Trey, an amnesiac boy with Indian heritage, the siblings seek the last known source of Ink before the bumbling yet nefarious blotters can cause further harm; to do so, Bea turns to hymns and prayers, and Everett wrestles with doubt and frustration. Heavy-handed moralizing and derivative fantasy tropes undercut the telling, but whimsical elements, including a gondola carried by a giant invisible pigeon, prove bright spots. Ages 8–12. Agent: Curtis Russell, P.S. Literary.