Reviewed by Sarah Tegerdine
Solomon Macaroni & The Cousin
Catastrophe
is a light-hearted, entertaining middle grade fiction set in a time where magic
has all but disappeared.
Some magical creatures cease to exist in
the traditional sense and for those that remain, their powers have diminished
quite drastically. Vampires for example don’t need blood to survive anymore and
can quite happily engage in a meal of cheeseburgers and pancakes. They can’t
run very fast or even fly… The one thing they have retained is the ability to
live for a very long time.
Solomon is a young vampire and when we say
young…he is a mere 552 years old: in human terms it equates to a ten-and-a-half-year-old
boy. Solomon is desperately unhappy when his parents decide to leave on a 100-year around-the-world cruise and he is going to be staying with his quirky and
comical Uncle, Count Dracula, and his cousins in not so nearby Transylvania.
Solomon has six cousins, five of whom are mean
serial pranksters. So, he decides early on in his stay, despite his uncle’s
warmth and generosity that this arrangement will be short-lived. He just can’t
stay! He has to go back home to Italy and will simply wait for his parents
return. Solomon colludes with his best friend Fred, who is a spider, stowaway,
and karate expert but it’s at this point his favourite cousin Lucy provides Solomon
his best way out. She will help Solomon
get home but only if he helps her with something first…
That something turns out to be a quest
that challenges his beliefs and teaches him that there is more to his cousins
than taunts and tricks.
It’s a perfect balance of mild spookiness with bunches of humour with family at its core. Recommended for junior fiction readers ready to make their first leap into middle grade.
Excitingly, a sequel is anticipated to be released
sometime in 2023.
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