Sally Harris

We first meet Marty when he is doing as he is told, sitting still and not moving a muscle, in response to strict instructions from his mother. This has the consequence of putting him in even deeper trouble for not answering the door to the police. Such is the stuff of Marty, a delightful young man with all a young man’s problems, and a delightful way of keeping a record of them.

The exact circumstances which led to Marty’s conviction as a penguin-napper I will leave for you to discover. There is a beautiful young woman called Jessica, whom fate has decreed will be Marty’s partner on his school assignment. There is the faithful and inventive partner-in-crime Turds, so called due to an unfortunate incident with a typewriter in his first-ever school roll-call. There is a rich spoilt brat who provides the means whereby Marty can gather enough cash for an overnight school trip to a wildlife park. And there is a penguin. More than one, so let’s just say there is a Lead Penguin and leave it at that.

The whole story is narrated by Marty, with reference to his actual journal, complete with illustrations, and punctuated only by interjections, clarifications and chocolate biscuits consumed by the police.

It is, in short, a masterpiece, and anyone in their right mind would swim with a pygmy hippopotamus in order to get it.

Reviewed for my April 4th A to Z Challenge post. A prize in the AtoZ Giveaway at http://jemimapett.com through April 2013.… (plus d'informations)