Lamplighter: Monster-Blood Tattoo, Book Two

Lamplighter has enough adventure-filled pages to keep boys interested in reading it. With the addition of Threnody to the cast, girls will also find this a good read. Threnody is a valiant young girl determined to make it in a man's world. As the first female to be allowed to be a lamplighter, she plays a strong counterpart to Rossamund, our protagonist. At one level, Lamplighter is a fantastic adventure story that should be made into a film. At a deeper level, it's the story of a boy trying to discover who he is and where he fits in the scheme of things. The power of Lamplighter is that it's written so that it'll be easy for kids of all ages to identify with Rossamund's fears, challenges, failures, defeats, and victories. Monsters are monsters, regardless of what shape they come in. Things in life scare us, especially when we're young. It's wonderful to see someone like Rossamund face his fears--though sometimes despite himself and this makes it all the more comical to watch--and by trial and error, overcome both the fears coming at him from the outside world and those emanating from his insecurities. As he did in book one, Cornish takes back story and extra information that could easily slow down the storyline and puts it in the Explicarium at the end of the book. This "glossary of terms and explanations, including appendices" goes on for 114 pages. It is there for readers to explore if they want to. At a daunting 700 pages, not since The Lord of the Rings have I been so captivated. Rossamund's world is unique and different, and thus is a refreshing break from wizards, fairies, psychic powers, and zombies.