A librarian at the Wallingford branch recommended this to me, so I had high hopes, but it wasn't great. There's a strange mix of computers and magic, which seems like a good idea in theory, but on the page it just doesn't make sense. ( )

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Oh me! Oh my! This was a fun read! Roald Dahl writes Mary Poppins!

The Strega-Borgia family is not your typical family. With a yeti, a griffin and a dragon living in the basement, a crocodile living in the moat and a talking spider in the attic, you could say this family is a bit different.

But this family pulls together, with the help of their unusual nanny, Mrs. McLachlan, when their father goes missing, the baby is sent careening onto the information highway in an e-mail and their home is invaded by gangsters.

A fun read for 5th grade, adults will get some good laughs too! ( )

Titus and Pandora Strega-Borgia have problems. Their father has left the family, their mother is preoccupied with her witchcraft classes, and they have a no-nonsense new nanny. When they manage to accidentally shrink their baby sister and zap her into cyberspace, can they find a way to get her back? And has their father really left them, or did something much more sinister happen?

It's hard to summarize the plot of this book, because it's so wacky and interconnected. I can see kids really liking this series, as there's lots of action and gross humor. It's not one of those children's books that I'd recommend to other adults -- there's little character development, and the plot leaps around a bit in ways that don't always make logical sense. I won't be continuing with the series, but I'm glad to have read it so now I know what it's about. ( )

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Titus and his sister Pandora have another new nanny. It’s hard to keep nannies around the Strega-Borgia mansion, but despite the siblings’ best efforts to scare off the latest applicant, Mrs. McLachlan is undaunted. She’ll be taking care of the kids and their scary pets because their dad, Signor Luciano Strega-Borgia, has abandoned the family and their mom, Signora Baci Strega-Borgia, has started witch school.

The Strega-Borgia kids soon turn their attention to more difficult issues when their baby sister Damp is accidentally shrunken and uploaded into the World Wide Web. Soon after, a group of assassins hired by the mafia shows up at their house. Can Titus and Pandora get Damp back and defeat the killers, too?

Pure Dead Magic is the first in a series of children’s fantasy novels by Debi Gliori. It’s dark, zany, and over the top. Inside you’ll find a tarantula who wears lipstick, a dragon with diarrhea, an assassin who wears a bunny suit, a crocodile who eats nannies, a grandmother in the freezer, and a smelly baby whose diaper always needs changing. It’s all rather dark and silly in the vein of the Home Alone movies.

Pure Dead Magic is fun, but if you insist on your plots making sense or your villains being smart, don’t bother. The nonsensical plot was fine with me until the villain ordered his captive to spend hours unattended fixing a room full of computers with Internet access. I would have preferred a little more care with the plotting.

Debi Gliori’s writing style is often clever, but self-consciously so. Its constant attempts to be funny will probably weary some readers, but it worked pretty well in the audio version I listened to by Recorded Books (please note that there is more than one audio version). The way that Ron Keith’s uppercrust accent acted as a foil for the perpetual silliness actually added to the whimsy. If you’re going to read Pure Dead Magic, audio is definitely the way to go. It’s a quick fun read for kids who like a silly plot with a streak of black humor. ( )