5 stars for the story of the Porch sisters, three young girls who became mad scientists. Who knew saving their town from a rock-eating worm could be this much fun!
The Porch sisters were booted out of the last etiquette school in Antiquarium, that they hadn’t already been kicked out of. They just can’t seem to fit in so their adoptive Aunt & Uncle are ready to ship them off to school in Austria! Luckily, they receive a mysterious invitation that leads them to the reclusive mad scientist, Millicent Quibb.
With her wild hair, mysteriously stained lab coat, and GerbilCar, Millicent is the teacher they didn’t know they needed. Weird, wild, dangerous, and hilarious this is a wacky book that flows and moves right along. The sisters work together to save Antiquarium from a group of evil scientists. Along the way, they learn their strengths and become the mad scientists they were destined to be.
This book did remind me of the Lemony Snicket books. It had that same way-out, absurd writing style. I have discovered that it is called an ‘intrusive narrator’. This is where the narrator speaks directly to the reader (just like in a certain blog post that you are currently perusing, dear reader!) In the book, we are narrated to by Dr. G. Edwina Candlestank, who is also a mad scientist. The book is very tightly plotted and sticks to the theme, no wasted words or sidetracks–the reader is moved steadfastly along the story path from beginning to end and I applaud Kate McKinnon for her writing skills.
The target audience is middle-grade readers but adults will love this book—I did and I can’t wait for book two. I was given a copy to read/share my opinion.