THE NIXIE'S SONG:
Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 1
by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
Simon & Schuster
ISBN-10: 0689871317
ISBN-13: 9780689871313
Ages 7-up
192 pages

• Read an Excerpt
• Author Talk -- September 2007

Nicholas Vargas is not at all happy about having a new stepsister, especially since Laurie is now in his bedroom and he is sharing a room with his aloof older brother, Julian. He is not amused when Laurie suggests that they search outside for faeries, which (of course) he does not believe in. Imagine his shock when he comes across a type of faery called a nixie. This particular nixie is in trouble because she is far from her pond. She can't survive out of water, so Laurie and Nick rescue her by hauling her to the lake.

As unnerving as that experience was, Nick is happy to have the whole faery episode behind him. But Laurie informs him that Taloa, the nixie, needs more help from them. Laurie persuades Nick into going to the lake to chat with Taloa, who wrestles him into the water.

Nick is indignant at this treatment, but he is even more incensed when Taloa sings (nixies sing instead of talk) that she needs his help to find her sisters who fled when the forest burned. When Nick refuses, Taloa croons that he will be sorry. Sure enough, when he reaches his father's car, it is filled with sand. This persuades Nick that maybe they ought to help Taloa after all. But first they have to deal with a rather significant obstacle in the form of a (gulp!) flame-throwing giant. The giant is content and placid as long as Taloa sings, but Taloa definitely cannot sing ceaselessly forever.

Fans of The Spiderwick Chronicles will be thrilled to discover this brand-new cycle of the New York Times bestselling series. Nick copes with his new family while starting out on his exhilarating adventure, which continues into the next book. The authors' humor is on full display, particularly in one surreal scene in which Nick and Laurie attend a book signing where they encounter not only characters from The Spiderwick Chronicles but Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black themselves (described as "a spiky-haired man in a bright blazer" and "a plump woman dressed entirely in black").

Readers will eagerly await the second installment, A GIANT PROBLEM, to see how Nick fares with his quest.

    --- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)

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