Horton Halfpott by Tom Angleberger

Rating: 2/5

Horton Halfpott, or The Fiendish Mystery of Smugwick Manor, or The Loosening of M‘Lady Luggertuck’s Corset is a humor/absurdist/quirky/satire/not really sure what to call it novel about the young kitchen boy, Horton Halfpott, the Terrible Smugwicks, a girl named Celia, and a Lump. Everything, from the illustrations to the plot to the narration, is exaggerated and tongue-in-cheek. There’s a plethora of absurd characters and absurd situations, resulting in a chaotic tale with basic elements and obvious endings.

As an exaggerated story, I can see why the characters would be so black-and-white and cartoonish in design. Yet what I liked least about this book was just that. The bad guys are so obviously Bad, and the good guys are so obviously Good. The Smugwicks starve their servants and pay them a penny a week, and it’s treated as something amusing, when instead it just seems, well, absurd…which may seem like the point of the book (and it probably is), but I found it dissatisfying and annoying. This is, I think, clearly an indication of how some books just do not work with certain audiences. Kids would probably love the absurd nature of this book—I just found myself shaking my head at it.

In addition, I found many of the jokes to be distasteful and inappropriate for the age group. This is a book for children; should there really be wisecracks about women’s underwear and the nature of romantic relationships in it?

I like a good absurdist book, but I thought Horton Halfpott was simply not enjoyable. I wasn’t really rooting for Horton, or any of his friends, and the plot was simplistic and barebones. It’s definitely a book that was written to be a little bit more indulgent on the absurd, exaggerated side than on the complex plot mechanics side, and I would rather read a book that has the latter.

Info: Tom Angleberger; published 2011 by Amulet

Genre: Children’s, Realistic

Warnings: Some inappropriate jokes, though nothing vulgar or crude.

Recommended Age Range: 8+