43. Winston Chu vs. the Whimsies

Winston Chu vs. the Whimsies. 2023. [February] 368 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Dad used to say that qi, like the Force, ran strong in our family. That if we nurtured this life energy, we could heal a broken bone, even change the flow of water. Bet he never thought I would use the Chu family qi to bake the most gooeylicious shoofly pie on the planet. 

Premise/plot: Winston Chu loses his pie and gains a broom and dustpan. If I wanted an inadequate, awkward one-sentence summary, that's what I would go with. Winston has a great group of friends, and, he relies on them a great deal since the death of his father, a veteran. His older sister is grieving in her own way. His younger sister can't remember her father at all. Winston--and his friends--encounter a mystical, magical, whimsical here-today-gone-tomorrow shop of oddities with a super-strange-and-suspicious-shop-keeper. He's allowed a magical item--in return for "scaring" away hoodlums--but it will be the first thing he touches. And that something--was it a trick???--was a broom and dustpan. His life--and the lives of his friends--will never be the same again. This broom and dustpan will wreak havoc on their personal lives....and they will have to risk everything to hold onto what matters most.

My thoughts: This was one strange book. I guess I didn't realize it was a changeling story--involving his younger sister and a creepy doll. If I'd more fully known where this fantasy book was heading, I personally wouldn't have picked it up. Of course, it's equally possible that a reader would pick it up simply because they want a changeling story. 

This one wasn't for me. But it might work better for other readers. 

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews