The interrupted tale

Format:

Book

Title:

The interrupted tale

Author:

Wood, Maryrose author

ISBN:

9780061791222

Edition:

First edition.

Publication:

New York : Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2013]

Physical Description:

385 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm.

Series title(s):

Incorrigible children of Ashton Place ;

Number in series:

BK. 4.

Contents:

A Swanburne girl thinks of home -- Lady Constance takes a leap of the imagination -- At last, Penelope makes use of her new fountain pen -- Penelope acquires a new student -- The journey has many stops and starts -- Proof that Penelope is not a princess in disguise -- Miss Mortimer's office is filled with ghosts -- Something valuable is learned in the library -- A work of art reveals more than it intends -- Penelope learns the value of a bird's-eye view -- Something criminal is planned for the CAKE -- The children are given important responsibilities -- Penelope's education proves its worth -- In the chicken coop, blurry things come into focus -- A generous donation comes from an unexpected source -- Epilogue.

Summary:

When Miss Penelope Lumley receives an invitation to speak at her alma mater on the occasion of the Celebrate Alumnae Knowledge Exposition, she expects the trip to be a piece of cake -- or rather, CAKE. But preparing a great oration in the style of Cicero is the least of her problems. The Swanburne board of trustees is now led by none other than Judge Quinzy, and Baroness Hoover is wreaking mayhem on the school's beloved traditions. Meanwhile, Lord Fredrick has demanded some rather unexpected lessons of his own -- and why on earth have the Swanburne girls stopped using the hair poultice? Something strange is afoot at the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females. But with the help of a friendly pirate, some talented chickens, those clever Incorrigible children, and her own substantial reserves of pluck, Penelope won't be easily defeated. She's determined to give her speech, save the school, unmask Judge Quinzy and find out precisely what lies within the blurry pages of that strange diary about shipwrecks and cannibals she found in Lord Fredrick's library. Too bad the pages are unreadable, or are they? - Author website.

Program Information:

Accelerated Reader AR MG 6.3 12.0 Accelerated Reader Quiz #165999.

Reading Counts 3-5 6.2 18 63154.

Lexile 900L.

Accelerated Reader MG 6.3 12 165999.

Personal Subject:

Lumley, Penelope-Juvenile fiction.

Lumley, Penelope. (OCoLC)fst02000767

Subject(s):

Governesses -- Juvenile fiction.

Feral children -- Juvenile fiction.

Orphans -- Juvenile fiction.

Ashton Place (Imaginary place) -- Juvenile fiction.

Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place (Fictitious characters) -- Juvenile fiction.

Juvenile recidivists -- Juvenile fiction.

Children's stories.

Secrets -- Juvenile fiction.

Governesses -- Fiction.

Feral children -- Fiction.

Orphans -- Fiction.

Schools -- Fiction.

England -- Juvenile fiction.

London (England) -- Juvenile fiction.

London (England) -- Fiction.

England -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

England -- Juvenile fiction.

London (England) -- Juvenile fiction.

London (England) -- Fiction.

Genre:

Added Author:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Salem Main Library	J Wood, M.	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Dallas Public Library	+ FICTION - WOOD, M	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Independence Public Library	J FICTION - WOOD	Searching... Unknown
Searching... McMinnville Public Library	Wood, M.	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Monmouth Public Library	J Fic Wood, M. 2013	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Newberg Public Library	J FICTION WOOD	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Of especially naughty children it is sometimes said, "They must have been raised by wolves."

The Incorrigible children actually were.

Turning sixteen is a bittersweet occasion for Miss Penelope Lumley: Her parents remain disappointingly absent, and her perfectly nice young playwright friend, Simon Harley-Dickinson, has not been heard from since he went to visit his ailing great-uncle Pudge in the old sailors' home in Brighton.

Luckily, an invitation to speak at the annual Celebrate Alumnae Knowledge Exposition (or CAKE) at the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females provides just the diversion Penelope needs.

Optoomuchstic as ever, Penelope hopes to give her CAKE talk, see some old friends, and show off the Incorrigible children to Miss Mortimer, but instead she finds her beloved school in an uproar. And when Penelope is asked by the Swanburne Academy board of trustees to demonstrate the academic progress of her three wolfish students so the board can judge the true worth of a Swanburne education, the future of her alma mater--and of her job as governess to the Incorrigibles--hangs in the balance.

Author Notes

Maryrose Wood was studying acting at New York University when she dropped out to be in the chorus of the Broadway musical Merrily We Roll Along, which flopped. She did eventually graduate from NYU's Gallatin School. She started out writing for the theater and film, as a lyricist, librettist, playwright and screenwriter. She was the first recipient of the Georgia Bogardus Holof Lyricist Award and a three-time recipient of the Richard Rodgers Award for New Musicals. Her first book, Sex Kittens and Horn Dawgs Fall in Love, was published in 2006. She also writes the Morgan Rawlinson series, The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series, and The Poison Diaries trilogy.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (4)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 4-6-In Wood's continuing comic-gothic series, nanny Penelope Lumley is called back to the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females to deliver a speech at the Celebrate Alumnae Knowledge Exposition, and she takes her three wolfish charges along. They find things much changed from Penelope's pleasant descriptions of the institution that was so instrumental in forming her character and philosophy. The Board of Directors has experienced something along the lines of a hostile takeover. Any enjoyment of life on the part of the poor, bright females is being squelched. It doesn't take long for Penelope to suspect that Judge Quinzy, who now heads the Board, is actually the supposedly deceased father of Lord Ashton and that he is after a book that may hold clues about the mysterious curse of the Ashtons. Readers learn that the three incorrigible children are not the only wolfish humans in the series and also a fair amount about poetic feet-especially iambic pentameter. It is all great fun and delightfully complicated-an essential purchase for libraries owning the previous three titles.-Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Library, NY (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Horn Book Review

This fourth series entry finds plucky governess Penelope Lumley visiting her alma mater, the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, where trouble ensues and more of the mystery surrounding the Ashton family and Penelope's three orphaned, raised-by-wolves charges is revealed. As ever, the sprightly narration is the strongest feature, and fans will revel in the voice even as the plotting slows. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

Amid much mention of cake and iambic pentameter, the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females survives a challenge thanks to its star graduate, nanny Penelope Lumley, and her three wolfish wards. Invited on her 16th birthday to deliver an address to her school's residents and sundry others at a Celebrate Alumnae Knowledge Exposition, Miss Lumley travels to her alma mater with young Alexander, Beowulf and Cassiopeia Incorrigible. There, she discovers that malign "Judge Quinzy," disguised and purportedly dead father of her employer, Lord Frederick Ashton, has taken over the board of trustees and instituted a repressive regime that includes changing the school's very name to the Quinzy School for Miserable Girls. Why? It seems he's after a certain old diary that holds clues as to why the Ashton men have been howling at the full moon for generations. As in previous episodes, Wood threads a boisterous gaslamp melodrama with instructional references (here to poetic meters) and broad but inscrutable clues. These seem to link the Ashtons, the Incorrigibles and Miss Lumley herself in some still-mysterious way. As always, details thrill: The school vet, Dr. Westminster, is first met successfully teaching chickens to dance the hokeypokey. The history and nature of the Ashton curse at least begins to move out of the shadows at last. Still, much else remains to be illuminated in future sequels, which fans will be howling for. (finished illustrations not seen) (Comic melodrama. 10-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Happily, the mysteries deepen at Ashton Place in this fourth volume in the Incorrigible Children series. Let us recap: the incorrigibles are three children raised by wolves but under the care of Lord Ashton, with Miss Penelope Lumley serving as their governess. Odd things happen at Ashton place, including Lord Fredrick's propensity to howl at the moon. But here the action shifts to Penny's alma mater, Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, which is in distress. A new board of directors wishes to change everything, including calling it the School for Miserable Girls. Can Penny help halt this disastrous turn of events? In this book, we come to that part in a series where one cannot really join in the fun without having read the previous books. And there is much fun to be had as the incorrigibles Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia entangle themselves in the Swanburne world. Family mysteries become more mysterious, and chickens learn to dance. Once again delightful wordplay and a plot that snakes itself around a suspicious family tree add to the deliciousness. It looks as if one more book should answer questions, but there are quite a lot of them. Readers will wait eagerly to learn where the children came from, to whom they are related, and why Penny must continue to color her hair that deadly brown. Hmmm. To be illustrated. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: This series has amassed a large coterie of fans who will be eagerly looking to see how everything comes together.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2010 Booklist