The Mummy Snatcher Curse (The Wand Keepers 2) by Tiffany McDaniel

What worked:

Middle-graders often enjoy strange humor and content that may be considered inappropriate. This book relies on absurd humor and the mystery of disappearing mummies. The characters don’t find boogers and farts disgusting, and the potions often contain strange ingredients. Aunt Caldroneyes adorns a hat with a bow made from the discarded tongue of a Frobby Beast, and Spella has an idea to combine frog slime, comet dust, and sparkledust spores to create glowing, sparkling thread. Many of the pages feature footnotes with humorous information about terms such as "hairball bucket" and "mummy box." The author also includes pages with brief excerpts from Madam Millith Muddle’s book describing topics such as mummy moaning, not wrapping mummy linen with sticky fingers, and the importance of cursing your pyramid.

Aunt Caldroneyes makes specialized hats for all types of creatures, and many hats live with her. One hat made of hats is called Socky, and it adds humor throughout most of the book by stealing socks from everyone it sees. Egypt may be the most interesting character, as she’s an ancient, mummified cat. She provides a good deal of information about Egyptian history and mythology, and the characters travel to Mummy City after she loses her wrappings. She’s fearless and protective of Spella and her best friend, Tolden. Spella and her blue freckles may have been discovered in a cauldron left on Aunt Caldroneyes’ porch, but Egypt was Lightning Born. It takes a while for Stella to convince Egypt that they’re a family.

Early on, readers learn about The Beastiarium, a book from ancient Egypt that is guarded by three sleeping giants. The giants dropped it into a bottomless river, so it seems to be unretrievable. It’s clear that the book is at the center of the plot’s conflict, although details will be slowly revealed along the way. A cracked, thirteen-legged cauldron is stolen, and it’s able to hold all of the water in the world. Other items turn up missing, but Stella and Tolden don’t see a connection. Stella frequently makes comments about a character named Stonescare, so readers can expect him to make an appearance. Stonescare was the main antagonist in the previous book. The plot reads like a mystery that readers can solve along with Stella and Tolden.

What didn’t work as well:

The humor won’t appeal to everyone, as it’s often absurd, gross, or socially unusual (inappropriate?). Ancient myths and curses are always capable of forming attention-holding stories, but there are multitudes of bizarre characters this time.

The final verdict:

I didn’t read the first book in the series, but middle-graders can still enjoy reading this one. Many of them will love descriptions they’d never find in other books, and the quirky characters are a delight. I recommend this book for readers with a sense of humor who can tolerate the unusual.