WHAT-THE-DICKENS:
The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy
by Gregory Maguire
Candlewick Press
Hardcover: 0763629618
Paperback: 9780763641474
Ages 10-13
304 pages

Most grownups seem to think that Gregory Maguire simply rocketed into fame (and, indirectly, onto Broadway) when WICKED, his first novel for adults, was published to immense popular and critical acclaim. But kids (and fans of children's books) have known Maguire for a lot longer than that, as this talented writer has reinvented not only the Wicked Witch of the West but also Old MacDonald, Sleeping Beauty and many other fictional favorites.

In his latest novel for younger readers, Maguire reimagines that elusive creature known as the tooth fairy. You may think that the tooth fairy is a pretty simple idea --- you lose a tooth and then get a quarter. Well, in Maguire's imagination, the tooth fairies (or skibbereen, as they call themselves) are actually much more complicated. For one thing, they work locally (did you really think one fairy could cover all that ground every single night?), and they live in huge colonies with complex social structures, instinctive behaviors and their own economic principles (which are complicated by the fact that no one can seem to do math).

Into one of these colonies comes What-the-Dickens, an orphan fairy who was born without a colony and who has to learn the history and lore of the skibbereen as he goes along. Questioning everything, making mistakes and risking his own safety and that of his friends, What-the-Dickens just might be the best thing that ever happened to the rigid society of the skibbereen.

Readers learn about What-the-Dickens along with Dinah, a contemporary young girl who hears the story from her cousin Gage. Isolated and afraid during a massive, mysteriously menacing storm, Dinah, her devout brother Zeke, and their baby sister Rebecca find comfort --- and something new to believe in --- when Gage tells them the ultimate bedtime (and all-night-long) story.

At first, this story-within-a-story structure seems unnecessarily complicated and dark for a tale about tooth fairies (who might be smart-alecky and tough but are still fairies, after all). But it all makes a little more sense when you know that this novel was originally serialized in newspapers to provide a diversion in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Surprising connections and coincidences also help link What-the-Dickens's story to that of the three children alone in the storm.

Throughout, Maguire's skillful wordplay is at work. Countless allusions to Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll and nursery rhymes, and even to Maguire's (and my) local NPR station dot the pages of the novel, providing both hidden treasures and added connections between the two plots. Whimsical, wise and willing to turn a story on its head, WHAT-THE-DICKENS offers readers a whole new take on a mythic tradition --- one that will have kids hoping to spot a skibberee the next time they lose a tooth.

    --- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

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