This book is a fun summer read and a riveting romp. The novel mainly follows Lottie Baxter, a resourceful and daring twelve-year-old who lives with her elderly relatives in Alum Bay. When she receives a pencil case full of magical gadgets, it sets off the story in an interesting direction, especially as suspicious events are underfoot: Timothy Pinkerton, a local schlub with too much access to various resources, gets it in his head to recreate his Tishin formula, no matter who or what he has to hurt in order to do so.
The story has a diverse cast of characters with unique motivations and mannerisms and dialogue that is strong and particular to each character. At first the book starts off with Lottie’s POV, but then shifts to other characters’ POV throughout. It was fun seeing the insight of Lottie’s great grand-dad Cheddar George, or BooTed and SooTed or even Timothy. The prose is clear and the tone stays consistent throughout. The pacing feels just right, and the plot holds some high stakes for a seemingly innocent middle grade novel. The characters’ designs sometimes feel slightly cartoonish, but always stay just on the brink of believability. The addition of the BREW Crew with its magical properties usher this book into magical realism territory; though sometimes their actions seemed to push the plot into too convenient ways and jarred a bit with the world set in the book.
This book’s colourful characters, unique, almost lyrical prose, and crazy plot are the highlights of this story. I award this book 5 stars!
