PRATCHETT, Terry. Dodger. 360p. HarperCollins/Harper. 2012. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-200949-4; PLB $18.89. ISBN 978-0-06-200950-0; ebook $11.99. ISBN 978-0-06-219015-4.
Gr 8 Up–The master of humorous fantasy has taken to historical fiction like a London guttersnipe to a large helping of bangers and mash, albeit with a touch of the fantastical. Dodger is an inhabitant of the worst stews of London, who makes a meager living as a tosher, a treasure hunter in the sewers under the city. His fortune changes, literally overnight, when he rescues a damsel in distress and comes to the attention of the not-yet-famous newspaperman Charlie Dickens. Together they embark on a mission to thwart the evildoers bent on recapturing the girl. Dodger is a thoroughly likable young rogue whose exploits bring him into direct contact with some of the best-known names in Victorian England–Benjamin Disraeli, Sweeney Todd, Sir Robert Peel, and, of course, Queen Victoria herself, with whom he spends a memorable afternoon taking tea. Pratchett does a bang-up job of re-creating Old London for today’s audience, complete with pathos, humor, and truly nasty descriptions of the filth, stench, and danger, all narrated in Dodger’s unique voice.–Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AK
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