Treasure of the Golden Skull (Maudlin Towers) by Chris Priestley
| Treasure of the Golden Skull (Maudlin Towers) by Chris Priestley | |
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| Category: Confident Readers | |
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Reviewer: Jill Murphy
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| Summary: Second in this comedic and Gothic boarding school series. Very funny and deliciously creepy. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 272 | Date: October 2018 |
| Publisher: Bloomsbury | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1408873106 | |
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Sponge and Mildew are not the biggest fans of their school, Maudlin Towers. Who would be? It's run down. It's gloomy. You can't move for gargoyles and that's discounting the teachers. But when they find out that there's no money left and the school might close they realise that, tatty and morose as the Maudlin Towers is, it is home. So they set their minds on a rescue mission...
... this will involve a search for buried treasure, an infestation of pirates calling themselves teachers and a strange new boy - called, would you believe it, Newboy - who has the strange ability to get everyone to do exactly as he says.
Hooray! Treasure of the Golden Skull is an absolute delight to read. It's funny and silly and a bit rude and a bit subversive. It's also a little bit scary but not too much. It's also very busy - packed with sly jokes and clever detail, but never too much or inaccessible. And the dialogue is wonderful. Here's Mildew, being dismissive of the need for snacks while hanging around in graveyards:
Your head is full of biscuits. Buck up, Sponge. How are you ever going to detectivate? Finlay Feathering wouldn't let a bit of biscuitlessness bother him.
I love the word play and the naughty use of non-words. But I'm with Sponge on this. How could anyone get anything done without the necessary biscuit fuel? Preferably chocolate digestives, of course.
Perfectly pitched at middle grade readers who like a bit of humour and a bit of spookiness in their lives, Treasure of the Golden Skull makes for a successful follow up to Curse of the Werewolf Boy and doesn't fall into any of the pitfalls second books in series often do. It's fast-paced and entertaining all the way and is as full of lively illustrations as you could hope for in a Chris Priestley book. Roll on book three, say I.
Did anyone find any treasure? I ain't sayin'! You'd have to um... starve me of biscuits or something if you wanted top secret information like that.
Obviously, you'll need to read the first book in the series. You might also enjoy Measle and the Doompit by Ian Ogilvy.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Treasure of the Golden Skull (Maudlin Towers) by Chris Priestley at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Treasure of the Golden Skull (Maudlin Towers) by Chris Priestley at Amazon.com.
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