The Wooden Mile: Something Wickedly Weird, vol. 1
First published in England, the Something Wickedly Weird series opens with 11-year-old Stanley Buggles traveling to Crampton Rock and taking up residence at Candlestick Hall. He recently inherited the mansion and its strange contents from his great-uncle Admiral Bartholomew Swift, who perished in “a dark encounter with a fearsome werewolf.” Though both the housekeeper and the magical pike mounted in the hallway warn Stanley off the local mystery, the plucky lad can’t hold back. Soon the pirates lurking nearby seem just as menacing as the werewolf, which is on the prowl again. With its fairly easy text, many black-and-white illustrations, and a dramatic scene silhouetted on the cover, this chapter book will appeal to young readers who like their fiction fast-paced and a bit scary. Mould’s richly atmospheric ink drawings capture the rather macabre tone of the story. The second volume in the series, The Icy Hand (9781596433854), is now available in the U.S. Grades 3-6. --Carolyn Phelan