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Maddy West and the Tongue Taker

Written by Brian Falkner

Illustrated by Donovan Bixley

Capstone Young Readers    9/01/2014

978-1-62370-084-3

Age 9 to 13     256 pages

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“Maddy West is a normal nine-year-old girl, except for one thing:  she can speak every language in the world. In this hilarious and heartwarming tale of fantasy, friendship, and adventure, Maddy is asked to translate some ancient scrolls. But the scrolls hide secrets, and Maddy is sent on a wild journey with a mischievous monkey, a stowaway ninja, a Bulgarian wrestler, and a fiendish witch. Will Maddy’s talent Maddie be enough to keep her safe from the evil magic she encounters?”

The Opening

.“When Maddy started speaking Japanese, her mom took her to the doctor.”

The Story

Maddie can understand and speak every language in the world, but how, she has no answer. She just can. Once she hears a language, she can speak it, fluently. Maddie’s mom thinks there is something wrong with her daughter but when a doctor calls Maddie’s ability, “very valuable,” Maddie’s mom begins searching for ways to capitalize with a capital dollar sign. One thousand-dollar signs leads Maddie to a talk show where language experts test her. Then a professor of the local university arrives wanting Maddie to translate some extremely old scrolls not read for thousands of years. The professor would like to study these scrolls. The catch? The scrolls are located in a monastery in Bulgaria, on an island in the Black Sea and the professor is not who she said she is. Maddie’s friend Kazuki sneaks on the plane to Bulgaria jeopardizing the trip. Two Goth teens kidnapped Maddie at the Bulgarian airport. The Goth teens take Maddie up a steep mountain to the home of their mother, a witch, who also wants to know what is on the scrolls. The scrolls? They contain dangerous dark magic spells.

Review

Maddy West and the Tongue Taker went off in a direction I never expected. I knew mom was trouble. She is as cold as a morgue slab to Maddy, except when there are others around. Maddy’s ability scares mom, and mom, I think, expected the doctor to “cure” Maddy with a magic pill. Ironic, considering where mom eventually sells loans Maddy her linguistic talents.

There must be an underdog and Kazuki, Maddy’s shy Japanese friend fits that bill. He does not learn English easily and often cannot understand others and others do not understand him. This makes him shy and backwards. The opening scenes painfully show this. Kazuki is in the alley throwing his new baseball—a birthday present—against a wall, playing catch with himself. On the other side of the same wall is a group of kids is playing baseball. Playing solo-catch only a few feet from an actual game must be unbearable for a kid who, just a short time ago, was a star pitcher in Japan.

Kazuki does not speak English, so no one knows of his talent except Maddie, the one person who understand Japanese. A bully brother makes things worse—until Maddy stands up to the kid. Kazuki thinks he can go invisible when wearing his ninja outfit. Kazuki really cannot go invisible, can he? His most endearing quality is his insistence on keeping Maddy, his only true friend, safe wherever she goes. Kazuki quietly slips onto planes, trains, and cars to keep watch over Maddy.

There also needs to be a superhero and no, it is not Maddy. This superhero is a small monkey named Mr. Chester. Mr. Chester is a capuchin monkey and an adorable, though stinky, hero. When you think he is gone, say, killed off by a larger animal, he’s back! Mr. Chester is definitely a superhero in a short money suit. The most dangerous person in Maddy’s life is her mother, who is willing to let her child traipse across the world with a stranger. Dad agrees without even one, “Is this a good idea? We don’t know this woman.”

There is a definite fantasy element to the story, yet I found it more adventurous than mysterious. I enjoyed the story, reading it in two sittings. The terrific black and white illustrations, though sparse, enhance the story. I was disappointed how early and easy it is to detect the villain, (too many clues too soon), but kids might find it more difficult. Regardless, the story will kept kids riveted in several sections and laughing in several more. The most intriguing characters are Maddy and Mr. Chester. Kids will love these two, especially Mr. Chester and his superhero antics. Adventure or mystery, kids will enjoy every word in the well written Maddy West and the Tongue Taker.

MADDY WEST AND THE TONGUE TAKERS. Text copyright © 2014 by Brian Falkner. Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Donovan Bixley. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Capstone Young Readers, North Mankato, MN.

Purchase Maddy West and the Tongue Taker at Amazon—B&N—Book Depository—Capstone—your local bookstore.

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Learn more about Maddy West and the Tongue Taker HERE.

Meet the author, Brian Falkner, at his website:   http://www.brianfalkner.co.nz/

Meet the illustrator, Donovan Bixley, at his website:   http://www.donovanbixley.com/

Find more books at the Capstone Young Readers website:   http://www.capstoneyoungreaders.com/

an imprint of Capstone

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Also releasing in 2014 by Brian Falkner

Ice War (Recon Team Angel #3)

Northwood

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Also by Donovan Bixley

The Three Bears (Sort Of)

Northwood

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Cyn and I are just back from the Montgomery County Book Festival, where we had an amazing time!  Congrats on a terrific event and thanks for all the hard work by the organizers and volunteers!

My panel was titled "We're Not in Kansas Anymore: SciFi Reads," and included co-panelists Brian Falkner and David Macinnis Gill.  I haven't read Brian's work, but am excited to do so now; and I'm thrilled that the third book in David's BLACK HOLE SUN series is forthcoming next month.

We had a great discussion, including how science fiction reflects society and inspirations of our respective works.

Here are some pictures:

Mari Mancusi and Cory Putnam Oakes

Origami by Larry Hammer

Opening night reception

Janni Lee Simner

Me and Brian Falkner

Suzanne Crowley, Janet Fox, and me

Jenny Moss and Cyn

Lisa McMann and David Macinnis Gill

FOR TEENAGE BOYS

Recon Team Angel Assault by Brian Falkner (Walker Books)

First there were six combat teenagers for an undercover mission but one-by-one they are picked off. Chisnall the leader of the group knows it has to be someone in the team - he suspects them all including his girlfriend Sergeant Brogan. Only he knows all the details of the mission - to find out what the aliens are hiding in the middle of their headquarters. To complete their mission they have to be dropped in by planes, pass themselves off as Uluru aliens and get inside to find out what is there, then dismantle it with whatever means. Only someone seems intent on stopping them.

Brian Falkner writes with incredible skill building up suspense to the climatic ending.  This science fiction thriller has all the appeal for teenage boys:  guns, warfare, and humour.  Brian uses authentic army-speak for operation communication and his futuristic weaponry are convincing.
I asked Brian a few questions about his book:

Where did you get the story idea - did the publisher suggest this theme?

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By: Maria Gill, on 9/10/2011
Blog: KidsBooksNZ (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Brian Falkner, Donovan Bixley, Northwood, Add a tag

Northwood by Brian Falkner (Walker Books)

When Rocky the Samoyd tells Cecilia Undergarment that he is starving to death, Cecilia can only do one thing - save him. It requires subterfuge, daring and innovative thinking - talents Cecilia can draw upon easily. She doesn't expect it will lead to her getting lost in the dark forest of Northwood though. The same forest her doting parents had always told her never to go near. The same forest where ferocious black lions roam. How will she get out and what else does she find in that dark forest...

Brian Falkner has tried a different style from the rest of his books. Firstly, he uses the third person omniscient (universal) - narrator talking to the reader, and secondly, his main character is female. Thirdly, it is also a fantasy story whereas his others have had a science fiction or contemporary feel.  But like most of his characters Cecilia does have a special talent - the ability to talk to animals. The story is about the little guy (in this case Cecilia) overcoming the odds - she problem solves how to get out of the forest; listening to her intuition on how to do it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and girls 8-12 years old will do also.  I can imagine this book having universal appeal. It will be for sale in New Zealand, Australia, America and England (and I am sure many other countries).  I'm really proud of how successful Brian Falkner has been and he deserves to be - he's put the miles in.  He spends most of his year touring schools and he's so good at giving talks he's booked up months in advance in Australia and New Zealand (and probably America too).

The book is also illustrated with Donovan Bixley's illustrations and they're perfect for the story. They look slightly sinister helping to build the spookiness of the Northwood Forest but he also draws very likeable characters.  Donovan's illustrated over 50 children's books and he's a real star (you've got to see him in person - he wears a tophat for the occasion and he puts on a real funny show for the kids). We call him the 'Talented Mr Bixley'.


Highly recommended!

ISBN:  978-1-921529-80-1  RRP $22.99

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