Harriet is extremely bored.
She's also very annoyed that she can't go cliff-jumping anymore, now that she's no longer invincible. So, she sets out for adventure by offering to help out a kingdom that has a little problem with mysteriously dancing mice. The king turns out to be very strange, and things are much more complicated than some unsupervised evening dances, (not to mention the whole color-coding thing) but Harriet has a solution, even if things get a little.... iffy at times.
These are the best and I desperately want to start a summer program solely to read aloud to kids just so I can read these aloud.
" 'You can't go into another color room. If someone in blues goes into the pink room, they'd clash. The king would be very upset.' It occurred to Harriet that she was dealing with a very peculiar sort of mind."
"A Poncho of Invisibility is not quite as good as a Cloak of Invisibility, but they're cheaper and easier to sew."
"The paint was brilliant purple, the color of a radioactive grape."
Sigh. So completely satisfying. Harriet is unfailingly practical, has a sense of humor, and is determined to go about things her own way, never mind what anyone else thinks. While the story follows in a long line of fractured fairy tales, Vernon's unique style and wicked sense of snarky humor make it stand alone.
Verdict: It's awesome. Buy it now.
ISBN: 9780803739840; Published 2016 by Dial; Purchased for the library; Purchased for my personal collection
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