How to Catch a Bogle - Hardcover

Jinks, Catherine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0544087089 ISBN 13: 9780544087088

Verlag: HMH Books for Young Readers, 2013

Inhaltsangabe

If ever a chill entered her soul, or the hope suddenly drained from her heart, she knew a bogle was to blame.

Birdie McAdam, a ten-year-old orphan, is tougher than she looks. She's proud of her job as apprentice to Alfred the Bogler, a man who catches monsters for a living. Birdie lures the bogles out of their lairs with her sweet songs, and Alfred kills them before they kill her. On the mean streets of Victorian England, hunting bogles is actually less dangerous work than mudlarking for scraps along the vile river Thames. (See glossary!) Or so it seems—until the orphans of London start to disappear . . .

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Catherine Jinks, winner of a Centenary Medal for her contribution to Australian childrens literature, is the author of many books for children of all ages, including the acclaimed Evil Genius trilogy. She lives with her family in New South Wales, Australia. Visit her website at www.catherinejinks.com.

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Catching bogles—it’s nice work if you can get it!

In the mean streets of Victorian London, orphans must do the most dangerous and unsavory jobs just to survive. Which is why young Birdie considers herself lucky to be apprenticed to Alfred the Bogler, a man who traps and kills monsters for a living. It’s a far better life than mudlarking for flotsam in the stinking Thames or toshing things from the even stinkier sewers.

Sure, Birdie’s job is dangerous, since she is the bait for monsters who’d love a tasty child for dinner. But she’s fast and light on her feet, and she can sing like the bird she’s named for, so no bogle is ever going to catch her.

Or so Birdie thinks—until the orphans of London start to disappear. Soon Birdie and Alfred are caught up in the search for missing children. Aided by the enthusiastic Miss Eames, who is certain there must be a more scientific way to catch bogles, Birdie and Alfred discover that the scariest creatures hunting lost children might not be bogles at all . . .

And so begins a spooky and spectacular new trilogy from award-winning author Catherine Jinks.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

London, England, c. 1870 

Two Missing Boys                                     
The front door was painted black, with a shiny brass knocker that made a satisfying noise when Alfred used it.                     
   Rat-tat-tat.                                                                                          
   Birdie spied a lace curtain twitching in the drawing room window.                                                                                          
   'someone's at home," she remarked. Alfred said nothing. He looked tired after their long walk'but then again he always looked tired. His gray mustache drooped. His shoulders were bent. His brown eyes sagged at the corners under his wide, floppy hat brim.                                                             
   Suddenly the door was flung open. a housemaid in a  white cap peered at them suspiciously, her gaze lingering on Alfred's frayed canvas trousers and baggy green coat. "Yes?' she asked. "What's yer business?'
   Alfred removed his hat. 'the name is Bunce," he replied in his gravelly voice. "I came here on account of I were sent for.'
   'sent for?' The housemaid echoed.
   'A Miss Ellen Meggs sent for me, by passing word through Tom Cobbings.'
    'Oh!' The housemaid put a hand to her mouth. "Are you the Go-devil Man?'
   'the bogler. Aye.'
   'And I'm Birdie. I'm the 'prentice.' Because Birdie was very small and thin and pale, she was often ignored. So she liked to wear the most colorful clothes she could find. This summer her dress was a dull cotton drab, but she had added a little cape made of yellow satin, very soiled and creased, and there were red feathers on her battered straw hat.
   Stepping out of her master's shadow, she beamed up at the housemaid, eager to make friends. The housemaid, however, was too flustered to notice Birdie.
   'Oh, why did you knock on this door?' she lamented.
   'the hawker's door is down by the coal  hole! Come in
   quick, afore the neighbors see you both.' Hustling Alfred and Birdie across the threshold, she slammed the door and said, 'I'm Ellen Meggs. I'm the one as sent for you. My mistress knows nothing o' this, nor won't neither, if I have my way.'                                                                                                        
   'Ain't she in?' Birdie asked shrewdly, glancing through the door to her left. It opened off a handsome entrance hall that Birdie thought finer than anything she had ever seen in her life'a lofty space with carpet on the stairs and paper on the walls and a bronze statue in one corner. The cedar joinery gleamed, and the air smelled of lemon. But there was a broom propped against the hat stand. And through the door that she'd spotted, Birdie could make out furniture swathed in dust sheets.                                                      
   'mrs. Plumeridge is at the seaside for her health," Ellen replied. "Oh, but there's other old cats across the way  that never leave their parlor windows, and they'll have seen you come in, sure as eggs!' She stamped her foot in frustration, her round, pink face growing even pinker under its frizz of sandy hair.                                                                                   
   Alfred sighed. His shoulders were slumped beneath the weight of his sack, which he never let his apprentice carry, no matter how desperately she pleaded. "What's yer particulars, Miss Meggs?' He inquired. 'tom Cobbings had none to give, save for yer name and where I'd find you. Is there a bogle in this house?'                                                                              
   Ellen opened her mouth, then hesitated. Her gaze had fallen on Birdie, whose blue eyes, freckled nose, and flyaway curls looked as delicate as fine china. Birdie knew exactly what the housemaid was thinking, because everyone always thought the same thing.
   Only Alfred understood that Birdie was a heroine, brave and quick and valiant.
   'I ain't afeared o' bogles, Miss Meggs," Birdie announced. 'though I'm only ten years old, I've helped bring down many a one. Ain't that so, Mr. Bunce?'
   'Aye, but we've heard enough from you, lass.' Alfred was growing impatient. Birdie could tell by the way he shifted from one ill-shod foot to the...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: HMH Books for Young Readers
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2013
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0544087089
• ISBN 13: 9780544087088
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Zeichner: Watts Sarah
• Anzahl der Seiten: 320
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: HOUGHTON MIFFLIN; https://www.hmhco.com/shop; ; 125 HIGH STREET; BOSTON; MA; 2110; USA
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