Castle Hangnail
I mostly know Ursula for Digger, and other less kid-oriented books. Those all show a wonderful sense of humor that would find itself at home in a younger audience, and so it is here. A definite advantage of her younger books is that you get even more of her wonderful art, which is nicely formatted in on the Kindle version (generally not a given).
Pretty much all the action happens in Camp Castle Hangnail and a nearby village, which feels a bit like it should be in England, but everyone’s using dollars, and I should probably just stop trying to look at the setting too closely. The cast of characters never gets huge, but there are a lot, and they’re nicely paced out through the story so there’s no chance of getting overwhelmed by them all. In fact, overall, the pacing of the story is pretty much perfect, a few slow bits to show Molly’s life and growth, and some real action when needed.
A really nice touch is that while Molly is the central character, she is not the only viewpoint character, and both her and Majordomo (the other viewpoint character) get an opportunity to really grow. It’s Molly’s coming-of-age story, but both characters learn something from their experiences.
Definitely a fun and worthwhile read; Ursula has yet to disappoint.
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