Juv Fantasy: A Plague of Bogles, Catherine Jinks

A Plague of Bogles
Catherine Jinks, illustrated by Sarah Watts
ISBN: 9780544087477
Sequel to How To Catch a Bogle, focusing on former street-thief Jem.
Read June 10, 2015

This sequel starts off with Jem searching for Sal Pickles in righteous vengeance for her double-dealing in the first book.  Along the way, he comes across reports of bogle attacks, and takes them to Alfred, even though he's not only retired but moved across town.  Not in the least deterred, Jem forces Alfred back into bogling by strength of will (and a few skillful applications of guilt trips) until Alfred himself is hooked by the strange emergence of a plague of bogles.  The nightmare, child-eating creatures are solitary and territorial, so why are so many of them converging on Newgate Market area?  Is it because of the underground river?  The new sewer works?  The disruption of the church graveyard and crypts?  Or is there a more sinister and human explanation for the rise of creeping terror?

Just as much fun as I remember the first one, and I like the switch to the new protagonist Jem.  His obsession was well-played, and well-deserved, and I also liked the small touches that gave hints into his background without ever devolving into flashbacks or maudlin reminiscing (bogle-despair notwithstanding).

Excellent continuation, and we've got one more coming: The Last Bogler, from Ned's perspective.

Juv Fantasy: How to Catch a Bogle, Catherine Jinks

How to Catch a Bogle
Catherine Jinks, illustrated by Sarah Watts
ISBN: 9780544087088
Juv historical fantasy: Street-level London victoriana features an angel-voiced child as bogle bait.
Read last summer

I could have sworn that I reviewed this book when I read it, but I guess I missed it.

Birdie is the cream of the crop.  She's not a street-sweeper, or a thief, or a ragpicker or a mudlark, or even a lace or flower maker.  Oh no.  She's better than all those street trash, because she has a real job.  She's a bogler's girl, and she's the best that ever was.  Her voice is clear and childlike, and her courage is strong.  Besides, she's got to take care of Alfred, the old bogler.  He needs someone to care for him.

But Birdie has come to the attention of a lady academic, who is also taking an interest in the world of bogling, and pretty soon, Birdie is going to have to make some hard decisions about her life.



Really solid storytelling, excellent characters, and the bogles are creepy as hell.  Reminded me strongly of Y.S. Lee's (also excellent) Agency series, or of Berlie Doherty's Street Child.

How to Catch a Bogle, Catherine Jinks

I haven't read any middle-grade fiction recently, so I snagged this one off of a recommended reads list, and I'm glad I did.


How to Catch a Bogle
Catherine Jinks (author of Saving Thanehaven, which I also enjoyed)
ISBN: 9780544087088
Read May 9, 2014
Juvenile/Middle-Grade alternate Victorian London; urchins and magical creatures

This one goes right along that same alley as Kieran Larwood's Freaks, Y.S. Lee's Agency series, or for a more gritty "literary" take, Berlie Doherty's Street Child.  Birdie is an orphan, but she's better off than most.  Unlike the mudlarks digging in the filthy and dangerous Thames for shillings'worth of scraps, or the professional beggars getting rousted by the police, or the ragged street-thieves risking prison-time, or even the poor unfortunate souls getting used and abused at the workhouse, Birdie is a Bogler's Apprentice, and that gets her a good day's work, extra spending money (sometimes) and what's most important - a degree of respect in this hard-knock world.

And what's a Bogler's Apprentice?  She works with the Bogler, to lure out and kill bogles.  These nasty slimy dark nightmares like nothing more than a tasty child to eat, and only Alfred and Birdie can find them, lure them in, and destroy them.

Birdie loves her life, loves her job, and loves being important and needed.  She very resolutely does not think about how dangerous her job is, but Alfred does.  (Making this obvious is a very nice grace-note in the story.)  It doesn't matter how dangerous it is, there's no real alternative for Birdie in the slums she calls home.  Until the duo meets an eccentric armchair naturalist, who follows them out on a bogle hunt, and is promptly scandalized and terrified.  Miss Eames is determined to save Birdie from her most likely fate as bogle food, but Birdie is equally stubborn.

The book jacket and the press indicate that this is the first of a trilogy, and I'm deeply satisfied with how they did it, because this is a totally complete story - none of this cliffhanger nonsense.

Parts of this are pretty creepy in the "things sneaking up behind you" sort of way.  Otherwise, it's a delightful romp through the poor muckridden slums of London, with a totally accurate (and colorful) vocabulary.

An excellent read, and I'm looking forward to A Plague of Bogles, out in January.

Street Child, Berlie Doherty

Street Child, Berlie Doherty.  ISBN: 0531068641

Read Oct 1, 2013

Juv Dickensian street-urchin story, based on an actual urchin.

Jim's had a rough life - his father passed away so they're kicked out of their country cottage home, his mother gets sick and can't work, so they're kicked out of their tenement, and then his sisters get essentially given away into domestic servitude to allow them warmth, sleeping places, and food to eat.  Jim and ma are on their own, but then even ma dies, and Jim is left to the tender mercies of the workhouse.  

After abuses and restrictions get too much, Jim runs away to the streets, only to find that freedom isn't any better, and might actually be worse.  A stint selling cockles by the wharves is cut short when he's kidnapped into service aboard ship, and then when he's injured, he's back to the streets as a beggar.

Finally, desperation leads him to the Beggar School, where the headmaster makes the despondent realization that there are armies of little vagabonds, and begins the work of housing and feeding them to keep them off the streets and rooftops.  

Depressing, but realistic view of what life was (and is in many places still) like for the truly poor children of the world.  

Pair with Wolves of Willoughby Chase or the first book of the Mary Quinn Mysteries, so you can really feel what they're escaping from.