I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: DALLAS GREEN-“The Gift” on CBC Kids’ Mamma Yamma (2012).

I have no idea what Mamma Yamma is (well, obviously it’s a kids’ show on CBC–Wikipedia tells me, “Mamma Yamma, who is played by puppeteer Ali Eisner, is a yam who represents Ontario as the owner of a fruit and vegetable stand in Toronto’s Kensington Market” so now we know).  It’s pretty low budget and quaint and actually rather funny.  Also, (given the few links I’ve seen on YouTube) it must host some pretty hip Canadians.

On this episode Dallas Green (who is City and Colour) sings a little tribute to Mamma.  here’s a brief intro and then he starts singing.  As one of the comments says, “Dallas Green: Phenomenal musician, terrible actor.”  And that’s pretty accurate.  If you can get through the awkward introduction (although I have to say Mamma Yamma is pretty funny…check out the clip with Jian Ghomeshi!), the song is really nice.

Dallas has a great voice.  Usually his songs are kind of angsty, but this one is really nice.  Not too many Dallas Green songs have the lyrics, “with jelly beans and sprinkles from front to back.”  I just hope that the kids aren’t running out to buy his proper album based on this.  It’s a rare treat for City and Colour fans.

[READ: November and December 2011 and January 2012] The Secrets of Droon, Books 13-SE#1

Even though I waited 12 books to talk about Droon the first time, this next section of books seems to have a definitive “arc” with SE #1 serving as a kind of transition. Book 13 introduces a new bad guy.  And although he doesn’t last all the way through to Book 16, Sparr is noticeably absent for this arc.  But just because Sparr is still missing, that doesn’t mean there’s a lack of trouble in Droon.

With this book, the series grows more magic based.  One of the first reviews I’d read of the series negatively compared it to Harry Potter.  I didn’t quite understand that since (in Books 1-12) the only magic came from the people who lived in Droon; the Upper World heroes didn’t have any.  Well, since book 12, Eric has gained magic and there is a bit more of a Harry Potter element now (remember HP was published in 1997, and really hit its stride around 2000).  I have no idea if Tony Abbott intended to give his main character magical powers from the beginning.  It’s possible, as there was magic in Droon, but Eric’s magic does add a new element to things.  He doesn’t use it often, it just seems to supplement things.  And remember, it’s not like wizardry is the point of Droon, the point has always been that the kids can work together to solve their problems (notice just how often Galen has to go away and can’t help any of them).  And, of course, this series is aimed at a younger group of kids.  Consider it a gateway book.

Book 13 is called The Mask of Maliban.  The first thing we wanted to know about Book 13 was if the magic that Eric was given in Book 12 actually transferred to the Upper World.  And it sure does!  Eric can’t control it very well (we see him being chased down the hall by birds and there is a wonderful joke about floating donuts) but he’s still got magic!  When the kids head down to Droon, Princess Keeah reveals that there’s a new bad guy causing havoc.  First, there was an escaped prisoner–an imp named Hob who is an excellent mask maker.  That’s all well and good except that he has escaped to Tortu and is working on a mask for the evil Prince Maliban.  If Maliban gets this mask it will give him power over all of Droon.  Oh, Tortu is a magic city on the back of a turtle which is heading straight for the Dark Lands.

Book 14 is The Voyage of the Jaffa Wind.  After the departure of Tortu, all that was left was the Ruby Orb of Doobesh which immediately sweeps up Max and whisks him away to who knows where. Galen is despondent and it’s up to the kids to track Max down.  They spend a lot of their time traveling from one side of Droon to the other following the signal that the Ruby Orb is giving off. They gather new crew members as they go and they learn some extra secrets as well.

Book 15 is The Moon Scroll.  In this book the kids start to really learn about Eric’s magical abilities.  Also, Galen has decided to chase Lord Sparr into Goll (Sparr’s evil underworld).  Since he knows he;’ll be gone for a while, he introduces them to Naleg.   Naleg (Galen backwards) is a kind of robot that Galen made of himself.  However, he was never finished, and he’s pretty much backwards about everything.  He says the opposite of what you’d expect and often goes in the wrong direction.  And yet, he knows how to read Galen’s special Moon Scroll.

The Scroll is going to lead them to the Wand of Urik, a super-powerful wand which has been lost for hundreds of years.   This book introduces more time travel which I admit my six-year-old had a hard time grasping (meeting young Galen is kind of confusing) but he still enjoyed it immensely.

In Book 16, The Knights of Silversnow, the drama is ratcheted up a bit. Not the Droon drama, but the Upper World drama.  For the boys learn that Julie and her family are moving!  How will they be able to play together, much less go to Droon if Julie moves away? Well, that Wand of Urik, which has somehow followed Eric into the Upper World is super powerful.  Maybe Eric can use magic to make Julie’s family stay?  He worries about messing with things that would be so big, but ultimately he decides to use the wand.  After saying the spell, everything seems to have worked.  Until they see crazy scary goblins walking the streets and monsters flying in the skies of their hometown.  Oh and dogs are meowing and cats are barking.  What has Eric done?

When the kids get to Droon they learn that Galen is still in Goll and that all of Droon is being hit by massive earthquakes (which are really Sparr and Galen fighting underground).  But Galen’s power is weakening and Sparr is getting stronger.  The only people who can help them are the gigantic Knights of Silversnow.  The kids have to travel to the frozen lands (it’s very handy having Max around–he spins them some warm clothes), until the meet the rather funny and yet really massive Knights of Silversnow, who pledge to help Galen.

The amazing thing about this book is that it ends more or less in the middle.  The kids don’t get back to the Upper World like they always do at the end of a book!  It’s a real clilffhanger (with a false ending and everything!).

And that’s where we get SE#1, or Special Edition #1: The Magic Escapes. I have no idea what makes this a special edition.  It is bigger than the others, and I suppose it deals with some new adventures, but I’m still confused by the designation Special Edition.  Of course, that doesn’t mean the story isn’t great.

Sparr has climbed a black staircase and made it to what was supposed to be The Upper World, but it looks more like the world after Eric used his magic on it!  There are goblins everywhere trying to capture humans.  And there is a Queen called Salamandra who is collecting every scrap of magic she can.  That includes the wand of Urik.

This book has lots of surprises in store for the faithful Droon reader (even I gasped at a few of the revelations). I won’t reveal any of the surprises, but suffice it to say that the kids meet Urik (!), the kids meet young Galen (Galen Nobeard is his name), and Eric finally learns what Sparr means when he says that Eric is “like him.”

Another surprise is that Sparr encounters someone whom he is afraid of–Queen Salamadra, a massively powerful wizard.  In fact, Sparr is so afraid of her that he gives Eric a gem to hold onto and he tells Eric to be careful (!).  And now that they both hold a gem, they can communicate with their minds.  Sparr is inside Eric’s head!

In addition to Salamandra we also meet Jabbo, a dragon who bakes delicious pies.  Both of these characters will figure largely in the next few books, but I’ll save that for a future post.

Oh and poor Neal.  In the previous books he was turned into a bug and in this one he is turned into a goblin (which actually has its benefits).

My son cannot get enough of these books.  As I’m writing this we’re going to finish book 18 tonight and I’ve already got Book 19 lined up for tomorrow.  I guess it’s good there are 36!