Zorgamazoo

Fantasy fiction. Told entirely in rhyming couplets that are nearly impossible not to read aloud, this lively tale follows young Katrina Katrell on a fantastical journey from her home, through secret underground tunnels, into a hidden city, and even to the moon. Along for the adventure is a zorgle named Morty, a timid creature who has been tasked to discover the whereabouts of his missing brethren. The zorgles, along with the rest of earth's most fantastical beasties, have been kidnapped in a diabolical plan that is much too complicated to get into but rather ingeniously involves ridding the world of everything magical and interesting, leaving it ripe for those dullards who have "no time for the whimsical things, / for pirates and gadgets and creatures and kings." This scuffle between enchantment and tedium is the very stuff of childhood, where the greatest menace isn't scary creatures and such but listless imaginations and a lack of wonder. In that way, this book is a natural descendant of the works of Dr. Seuss and Roald Dahl while hewing close to the droll atmospherics of Edward Gorey and Lemony Snicket. Ready your most nefarious whisper and spectacular boom, and read these bouncing, fanciful rhymes aloud to those who can't go it alone.