Pure Dead Magic

Rating:
Summary: Drop Dead Funny
Review: The story begins at StregaSchloss. Three children, Damp (14 months), Pandora (9 years) and Titus (12 years). Their mother and their father have separated, and now the harassed mother is looking for a good nanny that can make french fries crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle. Damp immediately falls in love with the new nanny, Mrs. Flora McLachlan, and Titus and Pandora admit that her fries are tasty.
Meanwhile, the childrens' father, Luciano, has been kidnapped-by his own half brother, Lucifer. Lucifer has been after Luciano for twelve years, trying to get rid of him. Lucifer wants the money that has been left in the bank for Titus, and he has an evil scheme that involves Luciano signing a paper enabling Lucifer to steal Titus' money!
Pandora's rats are missing, and she has made a bet with Titus that she can find them in five days. If not, she has to swim across their moat. the very same moat that happens to contain a very large, very hungry crocodile named Tock. A crocodile that hasn't eaten for weeks...

Rating:
Summary: A very funny and very weird book.
Review: The weird Strega-Borgia family lives in their large (and very strange) home, known as StregaSchloss, in the Scottish Highlands. There's Titus, who's twelve and is obsessed with computers, his ten-year-old sister Pandora, who has a pet rat, and their baby sister Damp, who is... well, a baby. And of course their parents: their mom, a witch-in-training, and their father, currently in the captivity of his evil half-brother, as well as the cook (who actually can't cook for her life), the butler, and the nanny. Not to mention the various beasts and creatures that also make their home at StregaSchloss. Of course, the REAL trouble starts when Pandora dabbles in magic, shrinks Damp, and sends her over the Internet. This unusual, hilarious, and VERY WEIRD book is great for readers who like humorous fantasy books.

Rating:
Summary: A funny and entertaining fantasy.
Review: Titus, Pandora, and their baby sister Damp live in a spooky mansion and had decent lives until their father disappeared from them. Unaware that their father has actually been captured as a pawn in an insidious plot, the kids don't know if they'll ever see their parents back together ever again. They don't like their new nanny, and their lives have become miserable. Not only are they upset -- the crocodile who guards the moat hasn't eaten anyone in a long time, and neither has the big spider in their attic. And their grandmother, preserved in a block of ice for centuries, certainly has a lot to complain about. But little do the kids know what adventure is in store for them all -- and adventure that begins long before their baby sister is accidentally shrunk and sent in an e-mail. Pure Dead Magic is a funny, dark, and witty fantasy in a planned trilogy by Debi Gliori, but not among the most enjoyable books out there. However, it's very hilarious and fairly entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: Pure magic!
Review: Welcome to Strega-Schloss, the ancestral family home of the Strega-Borgias in the Scottish Highlands. Unfortunately, things aren't going very well for the inhabitants of Strega-Schloss. Signor Strega-Borgia has been kidnapped by his mobster brother (but everyone else just thinks he's left); Signora Strega-Borgia is failing miserably at her beginning witchcraft lessons; Titus (age 12) just wants to sit at his computer and blow things up all day, but when a tussle with his sister, Pandora (age 10), ends with their baby sister, Damp, being shrunk and e-mailed into cyberspace, they know they've got trouble. Add to the mix a new nanny with a mysterious laptop computer that can work miracles, three hungry monsters in the basement, and a cryogenically frozen aunt who is beginning to thaw - oh, and don't forget the guard alligator in the moat - and you're left with a rollicking adventure of a story that is half Harry Potter, half Lemony Snicket, and 100% fun! Debi Gliori's sarcastic wit is guaranteed to make you laugh, no matter what age you are. Pure Dead Magic is simply that - pure magic!