Book Review: PETRONELLA SAVES NEARLY EVERYONE
Book One in the series: The Entomological Tales of Augustus T. Percival
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Low, Dene. 2009. PETRONELLA SAVES NEARLY EVERYONE: ENTOMOLOGICAL TALES OF AUGUSTUS T. PERCIVAL. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

2. PLOT SUMMARY:
16-year-old upper-class English girl Petronella Arbuthnot only has thoughts of her coming out party and her best friend Jane’s dreamy older brother James, when her whole world is turned upside down by a double kidnapping, ransom notes, and the strange bug-eating behavior of her uncle and guardian, Augustus T. Percival. What ensues is a wonderful romp through British manners and mores as Petronella, her friends, her uncle, assorted relatives, and even her butler attempt to apprehend the kidnappers, avoid an international incident, and save the day.

3. REFLECTIONS:
Mysteries are not normally my genre, but PETRONELLA SAVES NEARLY EVERYONE is charming, funny, and filled with enough non-stop action that any reader who enjoys a spunky heroine will love it. Set in Victorian England, the mystery pokes good-natured fun at the manners and mores of the British, while touching on historical events such as the building of the Panama Canal, the invention of the telephone, and the discovery that mosquitoes carried yellow fever and malaria.

Having lived in England during my own middle school years, I enjoyed the setting and the dialogue immensely. The author captures the dialect of both the upper and lower classes well. For instance, the thoroughly aristocratic love interest James has a penchant for calling people “old egg” and “old stick” and teasing the main character by saying, “…you have said nothing about my hirsute splendor. Your curls, by the way, are ravishing, and if I were not currently enamored of a chit playing the part of Isabelle in the West End, I would be in danger of losing my heart.” (p.10) Other characters, such as a street vendor, speak with a heavy Cockney accent, remarking to Petronella, “Laws, no, dearie. Sorry to say, I ain’t seen no one like that. ‘Ope you finds ‘im, I do.” Petronella’s own narration is as funny and astute as any of the characters’, and readers who enjoy witty wordplay will find themselves chuckling out loud.

PETRONELLA SAVES NEARLY EVERYONE isn’t simply a historical mystery, however. Much like Meg Cabot’s series THE MEDIATOR, author Dene Low deftly weaves humor and romance into the story, making it at once a fun and “frothy” romp (in the words of reviewer Caroline Severmer) that many of the middle grade girls who crave smart romance without the mean girls and gossip of other series will enjoy.

Sadly, while Petronella saves nearly everyone (you’ll have to read to find out why only nearly everyone is saved), she doesn’t get the boy, James, although there is enough handholding, accidental embracing, and eye-gazing to give us all hope that in the books to come the mystery and romance will only increase!

4. CONNECTIONS:
*Science: As an “entomological tale,” the novel introduces many fascinating facts about bugs, the first of which is that bugs are regularly eaten in some cultures, and sometimes by unsuspecting British uncles! It would be great to pair the novel with IT’S DISGUSTING AND WE ATE IT by James Solheim.

This short nonfiction title has eye-catching illustrations and tells the history of strange things eaten by cultures around the world. (Thank you to Cheri Cowart for donating a copy to the TMS library!) In addition, science teachers could incorporate a webquest or even field trip (if in the Austin, Texas area) of the Texas Natural Science Museum’s exhibit “Winged Wonders” which explains not only the science of winged flight, but also how insects produce the beautiful and diverse colors we see on their wings. (http://www.utexas.edu/tmm/exhibits/winged_wonders/index.html)