Children - Fiction & Literature

Corby Flood (Far-Flung Adventures #2)

Name: Corby Flood (Far-Flung Adventures #2)
Author: Paul Stewart
ISBN: 9780385750905

by Paul Stewart, Chris Riddell

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Overview

The second magical, funny, and fabulously illustrated story in the Far Flung Adventures from the authors of Fergus Crane and the Edge Chronicles.
Corby Flood and her family are about to set sail on the rather ramshackle cruise ship, the S.S. Euphonia. Her boisterous brothers might not have noticed that anything is wrong, but Corby is highly observant and has a lot of time for note-taking and eavesdropping. Onboard, among the odd passengers and eccentric crew, there is a strange group of men in bowler-hats who call themselves The Brotherhood of Clowns. There's also a melancholy wailing sound coming from the hold. It's strictly out of bounds but Corby can't help investigating. What could be inside the crate she discovers down in the hold? As the ship arrives at its destination, Corby must enlist the help of some very well mustachioed locals to uncover the contents of the crate and the dark secrets of the menacing Clowns...

Synopsis

Publishers Weekly

Another perceptive, intrepid young protagonist takes the helm in Far-Flung Adventures: Corby Flood by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell, the follow-up to last season's Far-Flung Adventures: Fergus Crane (which PW's starred review said "incorporates amusingly ludicrous elements with matter-of-fact ease"). Eight-year-old Corby investigates some mysterious singing coming from the hold of the S.S. Euphonia and unwittingly attracts the attentions of a frightening quintet of fellows. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

About the Author, Paul Stewart

Paul Stewart is a highly regarded author of books for young readers, most notably the bestselling Edge Chronicles and Fergus Crane. He is good at playing Musical Icebergs at parties. The author lives in Brighton, England.
Chris Riddell, co-creator of the Edge Chronicles and Fergus Crane, is an award-winning illustrator and political cartoonist. He has never met a laughing goat, but would very much like to.The illustrator lives in Brighton, England.

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Editorials

From the Publisher

"The second sparky tale in the series, again embellished by the drawings of Chris Riddell . . . an eagerly awaited sequel." —The Independent (UK)
"Extremely funny and, of course, brilliantly illustrated by Chris Riddell." —Children's Bookseller Supplement (UK)
"Corby Flood is Stewart and Riddell's best book yet. Completely satisfying as an adventure, the new book is full of amusing characterisation and is endlessly playful and inventive." —Times Educational Supplement (UK)
"Receives 5/5 star rating. Fab stuff!" - Kraze Club (UK)

Publishers Weekly

Children's Literature - Naomi Milliner

When the 8-year-old title heroine sets sail on the S. S. Euphonia, she has no idea what adventures await her. Besides her parents, four older brothers (croquet fanatics all), and fickle sister, Corby is surrounded by a myriad of eccentric characters, including five "sinister gentlemen in...bottle-green hats" called The Brotherhood of the Clowns. Despite her efforts to avoid these men, Corby overhears a conversation in which they allude to a lucrative "job" they're doing for a creepy headmistress. Once the clowns learn that Corby heard them, they repeatedly attempt (and fail) to silence her. The clowns' job revolves around guarding and delivering a mysterious creature kept in a crate on ship, a creature whom Corby befriends after hearing it sing "the saddest song ever." Through a series of mishaps, both Corby and the creature are taken off the ship and left behind in a quirky but friendly village. As the tale comes to a climax, the clowns have rowed to shore and kidnapped the creature again—only this time they're up against Corby and the entire village. The second book in the "Far-Flung Adventures" series, this is a strange hybrid. Although the heroine is only eight, the vocabulary (especially extensive British croquet terminology) is for older readers. Corby is a likeable character, and readers' curiosity about the creature's identity will keep the pages turning. Unfortunately, after the last page is turned, they may be left unsatisfied. The illustrations are excellent, but promise more fun than the story delivers.

School Library Journal

Gr 3-5-The members of the large Flood family find themselves aboard a shabby cruise ship, with five of the children on their way to a new school. Eight-year-old Corby is the youngest and most resourceful of the lot, and as the S. S. Euphonia sails past the magical Dalcretian coast, she reads longingly about its wonders in Hoffendinck's Guide, a Baedeker-style travel guide. Curious Corby follows the other passengers around the ship, trying to find out everything she can about them, especially the Brotherhood of Clowns, five odd men in green bowler hats who appear to be plotting something sinister. When they catch her overhearing their scheme, they chase her on motorized deck chairs, and she barely escapes. While hiding from them in a crate of canned goods, Corby is unknowingly delivered to the Greek-like fishing town of Doralakia, which she had dreamed of seeing-but not while her family sails away without her. Stewart and Riddell follow up Fergus Crane (Random, 2006) with this second tongue-in-cheek mock-historical volume in the series. Like their "Edge Chronicles" (Random), Corby Flood is filled with Riddell's striking line drawings of peculiar characters, weird mechanical devices, and odd creatures. Fantasy fans will smile through to the end of this silly melodrama.-Walter Minkel, New York Public Library Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.