Starred review from April 27, 2015
Mabbitt’s bustling debut combines a humorously intrusive narrator with lively illustrations by Collins (Dear Vampa). After Mabel Jones picks her nose and eats the “bogey” she extracts from it, she promptly finds herself an indentured pirate aboard an otherworldly ship filled with wolves, pigs, crocodiles, and a vindictive loris named Omynus Hussh. In the servitude of Idyrss Ebeneezer Split, the captain of the Feroshus Maggot, Mabel learns that the only way to get home is to help the captain collect the pieces of a key scattered among treacherous thieves and pirates before a comet disappears, sealing the porthole between realms for another hundred years. With time running out and suspicious Jarvis the Psychopomp to contend with, Mabel battles ghosts, counts, and a whale to return to the “hooman” world. Playful font variations and word placement amplify the already funny narrative, as do Collins’s numerous illustrations (not all seen by PW), which emphasize Mabel’s daredevil leanings and the budding relationship between Mabel and Omynus. First in a series, this comical novel should become a readaloud favorite. Ages 8–12.