April Book Review #2

Book: Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge
Age-range: 10 and up
Recommended: Yes
As good as the first time?: Yes, maybe even better

This book is not what it is advertised to be.  I remember buying this book because of the big sticker across the front that read: Imagine a world in which all books have been BANNED!  The trouble is,  not all books have been banned in the story.  And the fact that some books are banned makes up about .01% of the story.  So when you read the jacket copy and see the cover, just know that it's not an accurate portrayal of what the book is about.

Mosca Mye is our protagonist, a 12-year-old orphan with dark eyes and a "ferrety-look" about her.  The book begins with a long and boring first chapter that goes into way too many details about things that don't matter, so just hang on until you get passed it.  Mosca takes up with a sweet-talking con man named Eponymous Clent (aren't the names fabulous?) and rescues him from the clink.  And I can't forget Mosca's goose Saracen who plays an important part throughout the story.

The story is complex and hard to explain in a few lines, so I'm not going to even try.  I will tell you that (other than the first chapter) the book is amazingly well-written with fascinating names and creative world-building, though the setting is based on 18th-century London.

I'm pretty sure my favorite part of the book is the way Mosca talks.  She loves words, collects them even, but the way she speaks belies the fact that she's so well-educated.  Here's the first line she speaks where we really get to hear her voice:

"He's a mangy old nook-gazin' spy. 'S got papers, signed by the Stationers - I seen 'em."

Can't you just hear her voice?  My only beef is that you don't really get to hear her voice until almost 100 pages into the story, so you're thinking she's one thing when she's really another, but now you'll have the advantage of knowing what Mosca truly sounds like.

So go read it already!  I know my description is not the best, but trust me - you'll like it.