Grimwood by Nadia Shireen

Ted and Nancy’s adventures mirror the city life verses country life bias of humans – but particularly given that the foxes, like many animals adjusting to climate change, are relying on humans in an urban space for their survival.  Life is pretty easy considering that the chow is laid-on in the industrial bins out back of Speedy Chicken – that’s if Ted forgets about having no friends or his fear of Princess Buttons. The feline overlord is very possessive of Speedy Chicken leftovers, refusing to share them in any capacity with Ted and Nancy.

When Ted accidently bites off Princess Button’s tail, vengeance becomes the blinding motivation of the cat leader. The siblings flee to the country and despite the unfamiliarity, begin to see that quality of life matters as much as quantity of life. Their world expands to include interesting new friends like Titus the stag, Binky Snuffhausen the rat, Ingrid the duck, Wiggy the badger, Pamela the eagle and Willow the rabbit. Willow becomes Ted’s friend and introduces him to his calling – a career on the stage.  For a time, the new creatures and surroundings distract Nancy & Ted but how long can they stay away from their food source at Speedy Chicken?  Will Princess Buttons find Ted and Nancy in the country?  Just how does the squirrels’ frenetic pastime of tree bonking save the foxes?

Whilst difficult to penetrate if a reader is not a fan of inane conversations between wild critters, the story improves greatly as the characters are fleshed out. Mean, abrupt Nancy – like most folks when you get to know them – is not at all motivated by self-interest but by her loyalty to her family.  The disappearance of the foxes’ parents goes unresolved but both brother and sister sense Grimwood might hold the key to the mystery.

Perhaps a series about Ted and Nancy is on the cards, filled with hand drawn gems like mud maps of Grimwood, signs, song lyrics or interjections by Eric Dynamite - the  bus driving woodlouse?  You get the picture.  Middle school readers will have as much fun decoding the zany world of Grimwood as Nadia Shireen had encoding it.

Themes: Family, Animal Fantasy, Adventure.

Deborah Robins