EVANGELINE MUDD AND THE GREAT MINK ESCAPADE
by David Elliott
illustrated by Andrea Wesson
Candlewick Press
ISBN: 0763622958
Ages 7-10
192 pages

Evangeline Mudd is a sprightly 10-year-old who loves adventure. (Didn't she just return from saving her parents who were trapped in the Ikkinasti Jungle?) But now that she's back home in New England and passing the time swinging in the trees, she's bored. (Poor girl!) Just in the nick of time a letter arrives marked URGENT!!! It's from a friend of hers who's active in a "save-the-animals" group. She reminds Evangeline of a promise Evangeline made to her --- and now Evangeline needs to keep that promise.

As it turns out, Evangeline's father has a second cousin twice removed named Melvin Mudd. Being a not-so-nice man, he has a mink ranch called Mudd's Marvelous Minks. And he is about to turn all of his marvelous minks into marvelous ballet costumes! (I told you he wasn't nice.) And all because his weird wife, India Terpsichore, wants to put on a ballet starring herself! Evangeline must rescue the minks and turn them loose. But how? Melvin and India surely will recognize her when she appears at their door, having visited them before.

While on their very doorstep, Evangeline decides to disguise herself as a reporter. When the door to Melvin's house opens, the evil Ratsputin and Alexy Alexy, a boy about her age, appear. Ratsputin eyes her suspiciously and Alexy Alexy looks very sad (as you will see from the wonderful illustrations). Luckily, when India and Melvin meet Evangeline, now disguised as a reporter, they do not recognize her. But Ratsputin knows her real name and watches her like a beady-eyed hawk.

One night, Alexy Alexy suddenly appears outside Evangeline's window. He got there by simply jumping up from the ground floor! Alexy can jump higher then any other ballet dancer; Ratsputin has held Alexy practically in bondage, and makes him jump and dance all over the world. All the money, of course, goes to Ratsputin.

Evangeline and Alexy team up and hatch a wild plan to save the minks. Alexy leads Evangeline to the mink farm, but they find the cages open and empty! Where are the minks? They soon discover that mean Melvin Mudd has played a trick on them and the animal rights group. The minks are somewhere else. But where?  Evangeline suddenly figures it out, and with Alexy, they find the mink ranch and free the minks. How they do all this makes for a funny, silly, action-packed story.

   --- Reviewed by Robert Oksner

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