Amazon.com Review
As they say in Glasgow, you'd have to be a right numpty not to rejoice at a third book in Debi Gliori's delicious Pure Dead comedy adventures. Things are in a turmoil, as usual, at StregaSchloss, the ancestral castle of the Strega-Borgias in Argyll: Titus and his sister Pandora are at odds because their grandfather, Don Chimera di Carne Borgia, known as il grande parmigiano, or "the big cheese," is about to make Titus the sole heir of the family fortune; Signora Strega-Borgia has invited her flaky classmates at the Institute of Advanced Witchcraft to spend a week at the castle practicing their spells; Ffup, one of the house dragons, is sulking about her diaper-changing responsibilities as a teenage single mom; and grouchy Marie Bain, possibly the worst cook in the British Isles, has created an accidental specialty of kippers in raisin and rat pee sauce. Worst of all, word has gotten around in demonic circles that the long-lost Chronostone is secreted someplace in the castle, and the sinister Astoroth, Second Minister of the Hadean Executive, is hot on its trail, as is another demon, Flamma d'Infer, who is disguised as one of the apprentice witches. Events take a decidedly random turn when the family's wise and comfortable magical nanny, Mrs. McLachlan, discovers that the baby Damp is an infant magus. And that's only the beginning of this gothic romp that can only be described as, well, pure dead brilliant. (Ages 10 to 14) --Patty Campbell