The Leap and Little Darlings

The Leap, by Jonathan Stroud

This was a book that I began on a road trip near the start of the month. I just finished it tonight. As previously stated, I throughly enjoy Stroud's Bartimaeus Series for its humor and wit. The Leap was on of Stroud's first novels and, as with Buried Fire, it reflects more of things to come rather than the voice of Stroud's recent work. The protagonist of this novel is Charlie, a young girl whose best friend, Max, died in a tragic well accident. Her story is that while Max was picking plums from an overhanging tree, his eyes became dazed and fascinated by what he saw within the mill well below and jumped in the pool. Charlie was alarmed by Max's behavior and dived in to rescue her friend. According to her account, Max was taken by two green haired maidens who drew him towards the bottom of the well. Charlie tries to call for her friend underwater, and gains the attention of a third maiden who beckons her downward. Charlie aborts her rescue attempt and starts back towards the surface. The third maiden scratches Charlie's leg during her ascent, angered by Charlie's refusal to join Max.

Charlie is hospitalized for her trauma and her outrageous story - obviously she was disturbed by the death of Max and concocted the story as a coping mechanism. Charlie's mother is a nervous hoverer who thrives on stoking petty arguments into dramatic events. Charlie's older brother, James, is unsure of how to handle his sister's situation and makes himself available for her support.

Charlie keeps her first story to herself, sure that Max is not truly dead, but lost to this world. Soon, Charlie begins a dream saga for her friend in a fairy world, each night walking and tracking her friend's progress. In her dreams, she meets Kit in the forest, a man who promises her aid in finding her friend - as a newcomer, Max will be drawn to the Great Fair, in which he will join a dance of welcome that will purge the memories of his previous life and make him a full inhabitant of that world. Kit advises Charlie to visit the places that Max enjoyed in life to aid in her finding him in the dream country. Max had been accepted through a portal to the fairy land, one of few remaining on earth. Since Charlie entered the portal but turned back, she is between the worlds.

James grows concerned for Charlie - she cries out during the night and wakes with wounds from her nocturnal mission for Max. Charlie keeps a dream journal, chronicling her progress in her pursuit, and James is curious as to its contents. One night, Charlie wakes to find her dream world merged with the waking reality, her search grows ever more urgent. The reader is questioned whether Charlie is delusional in her dreams or really part of both worlds. If so, which reality will lay claim to her life? And will her quest to join Max to end in her own death?

Little Darlings, by Sam Llewellyn

This was a paperback I discovered at the library. With the tagline "A very good book about very bad children." I was intrigued and hooked. The story did not disappoint - Three children named Daisy, Primrose, and Cassian are the children of a business tycoon who does not pay them heed. Their real mother disappeared shortly after Cassian was a toddler, and a new trophy was added to Mr. Darling's mounted animal heads shortly afterward. This mysterious trophy was entitled as a piece of the Royal Edward and "Bear's bum" was scrawled underneath. The children had run off 18 nannies in their career - and with the last one's departure, Mr. Darling found himself blacklisted by the Nanny society. With a party to attend in a half an hour deadline, Mr. Darling rings the AAA Aardvark Children Minding and Security Company and gains an appointment from the independent entity. Ten minutes later, a sleek Jaguar pulls up and Nanny Pete enters the Darling household, changing the children's lives forever.

Nanny Pete is nice to the Darling children, ordering Chinese and Pizza for the Darling's first experience of tasting such food. As Nanny Pete tucked them into bed, Cassian managed to frisk Nanny Pete's keys and duplicate the Jag's ignition requirement. The children sneak down to the Jaguar, only to have Pete stumble though the front door laden with the Darling's jewelry and trophies. AAA aardvark is a front for an organization of Old World thieves who love children. Daisy, Primrose and Cassian find themselves on the USS Kleptomaniac, surrounded by thieves of every sort. And they stubbornly refuse to leave the ship, so the lovely lady captain of the ship assigns Daisy, as she is experienced with nanny comportment, to train the thieves to be more convincing nannies. Cassian loves engines, so he works in the ship's boiler room; Primrose is an excellent cook and experiments in the ship's kitchens. All of the Darlings are delighted by their new and exciting roles, but inquire as to why the thieves operate as a nanny agency. The captain explains that her crew of robbers cannot operate in this new technological world - they are too moralized to perform simple muggings to innocent people. Logically, only rich and careless parents have a need for nannies. It is a clean bargain - the children get a night of pleasure from a willing and kindly thief, and the thieves make out with a lot of loot without feeling undue guilt.

Only one problem - the White Van Dan, the leader of the Builder's Guild of the City. As soon as the AAA aardvark Jaguar is spotted by a construction worker, he phones Dan to report on the destination. But, as builders never show up on time, they are usually late to the scene. The builders demolish the estate and take whatever is left in the wreckage, then get the contract to build a new estate. The object of both White Van Dan and AAA aardvark's searching is a fair share of a certain bear. The "Bear's bum" that the Darlings owned was a piece from the Royal Edward, the only teddy bear of its kind to make its way into the public marketplace. The designer of the Royal Edward only made the stuffed toys available to royalty, and the monarchical families guarded their prize teddy bears jealously. The Royal Edward was stolen from the ruling family of Iceland in the revolutionary overthrow. When put up for sale in a private auction attended by rich people, the final decision was contested and the bear was ripped apart in the chaos that followed. For some reason, both the AAA aardvark society and the White Van Dan are fighting over the seven pieces. The burglars know the families that possess a piece and wait for the parents to call them for child care.

All the rich and nannied families have ingenious, bored, and mischievous children who devise clever means to entertain themselves at their nannies' expense. Daisy quickly finds herself slipping into a nannyish mode with her new responsibilities of training, and her younger siblings are alarmed - will she become one of the enemy?

Overall, Little Darlings was a highly lighthearted and entertaining book for me to read and it is highly recommended. The Leap is beautifully done, but is not as easily tied up and accessible as the Bartimaeus series. The Leap's ending is ethereal and starry and while lovely, is unreachable to me, feels both deep and empty when I finished it. (The Leap is an appropriate title).

Now I must rest soon

Tomorrow I will begin

Second Semester