Lunatics and Luck

Your third chance to read the annals of the Otherland family, as told by their guardian, a raven called Raven. And caw blimey, this raven deserves every feather in his cap. What with a small earthquake, an alarming new teacher, and Fellah the pet monkey appearing in a wedding dress while smoking a pipe, the Natural Order is taking a drubbing from the start of this hair-raising gothic tale. The trouble with the teacher is that he seems to be a little hairier than other people – when there’s a full moon, that is. Could Mr Blandish be just a howl away from becoming a carniverous canine with a bite worse than his bark? And if so, can Solstice and her brother Cudweed escape by the skin of their teeth? Even if they do, how can their impoverished family keep the other wolf from the door? Marcus Sedgwick never stops with the quickfire humour and illustrator Pete Williamson doesn’t spare the ink in his black-andwhite drawings, which owe more than a big-eyed nod to Edward Gorey. Full of highly commonplace, un-commonplace things, the Raven Mysteries are a must for growing goths from 8 to 10.