Blue in the Face: A Story of Risk, Rhyme, and Rebellion

Gr 4–6—Elspeth Pule is known for her legendary temper tantrums and at the age of 11 is quite adept at manipulating her parents and being kicked out, for despicably horrid behavior, of every school she has attended. Her parents are out of options and try—outrageously—to say "no" to her most recent demand, which causes Elspeth to hold her breath and pass out. When she awakens, she's in a world ruled by nursery rhyme characters. And those characters see Elspeth, the spoiled, friendless bully, as their savior from the evil King Krool, since she is prophesied to save them. Elspeth opts not to assist the nursery rhyme characters and instead goes to Krool, asking his assistance to get home. He consigns her to death. While awaiting her execution, she is rescued by the three blind mice, who in turn rescue Jack and Jill and Georgie Porgie from Krool's dungeons. With the help of Humpty Dumpty, Wee Willie Winkie, and Little Bo Peep, Elspeth trains an army of 200 nursery rhyme characters to attempt to overthrow Krool—and maybe becomes a decent person in the process. Elspeth is an initially unlikable character who will slowly grow on readers. The overall tone of the book is funny, though there are a few scenes that fall flat. The end of each chapter features a distorted nursery rhyme and a sketch that sums up the main events.