ISBN: 9780061231179
New York: HarperTrophy, 2008
Plot - Stephanie Edgley is a 12 year old girl bored stiff with her small life in the small Irish town of Haggard. One day, Stephanie's beloved Uncle Gordon, a writer, dies, leaving her his house. Spending the night in the mansion alone, Stephanie discovers and then is brought into the real magical world about which Gordon wrote in his novels. Skulduggery Pleasant, an undead but nevertheless urbane and very stylish skeleton detective, comes to her rescue that night. They end up fast friends and wise-cracking cohorts saving the world from Skulduggery's old enemy, Nefarian Serpine. Stephanie and Skulduggery are joined in their fight by Skulduggery's immensely powerful tailor, Ghastly Bespoke, who also makes Stephanie a set of magical defense clothes, and an amazing martial arts master fighter, Tanith Low, and in some ways by the intoxicatingly beautiful librarian, China Sorrows. Along the way, while Stephanie's mirror image plays her part in her regular life, they meet and must conquer vampires, Hollow Men, magicians who melt in water, and the White Cleaver--all very nasty creatures with ill intent for the heroes.
Critical Evaluation - The highest art in Skulduggery Pleasant is surely the reparte between Stephanie and Skulduggery. Skulduggery is one of the most egotistical yet well-mannered characters one might hope to meet, and in 12 year old Stephanie Edgely he meets his match. Landy tells this engrossing story with enough suspense to keep the reader moving, yet pauses often to allow his characters to make absurdly funny observations and tag one another in their ongoing verbal sparring. The book is pure entertainment and characters are drawn to the degree we need to know them in order to understand the story only.
Reader's annotation - What would scare a 12 year old girl more than having a skeleton break down the front door, throwing fireballs and shooting his antique handgun? The possibility that he might not have shown up in time.
Information about the author - Derek Landy wrote screenplays for film, Dead Bodies and Boy Eats Girl both won Irish Film awards, before beginning the Skulduggery series. According to Landy's website (http://www.skulduggerypleasant.com/us/book/story.htm), the name Skulduggery simply came to him one night along with the character's basic identity. Knowing that he needed a match for Skulduggery's character, he was inspired by the 12 year old girls, full of spirit and sass, whom he taught as a Kempo Karate instructor. Landy holds a black belt in Kempo karate still. His basic approach to writing the books is to make each chapter more exciting for himself than the last; he writes that with this approach he avoids losing focus and giving in to his wandering attention.
Genre - fantasy
Curriculum Ties - None
Booktalk ideas
- Read the opening scene in which Gordon's will is being read and Beryl is aghast at her paltry inheritance. It's funny enough just to stand on its own as a great teaser.
- Read kids the brief scene in which Stephanie's mirror self gets her first kiss. It's hilarious, for one, and then ask them how they would handle this situation of being deeply involved in saving the world but missing your own life. Is Stephanie growing up too fast? Have them guess what happens to her.
If a challenge were to occur, the librarian should become familiar with the book, share both professional and local teen reviews of the book, and refer to the library's Collection Development Policy.
Why I included this book - Skulduggery Pleasant has been an immediate winner in the eyes of high school age teens (freshmen through seniors) at my school. The adventure is gripping and the humor makes it even more of a page-turner. In fact, I had to order the third through fifth books directly from the U.K. in order to satisfy the cadre of older teens who had become Skulduggery fans. The heroine is twelve when the adventure begins, but her wit, courage, and sense of adventure make her a protagonist for all ages.
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