Freaks by Kieran Larwood ★★★☆☆

Even freaks have a role to play.

Fiction – Juvenile – Steampunk/Mystery

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

256 pages

Publication Date: March 1, 2013

When impoverish children in Victoria London, begin to go missing, supposedly taken by a monster in the river, Sheba, the Wolfgirl, and her fellow sideshow freaks use their unique gifts to track down the crooks.

Being a parent finally pays off (you know apart from it being so very glamorous)!  My daughter’s school has book fairs; a new venue where I can purchase – for the kids, of course– new books for a good price.  Growing-up I loved the book fair and all of the amazing possibilities it held.  Most of the time I fell back on the tried and true Babysitter’s Club or the like, but just seeing the possibilities of the worlds these books held took my breath away.  It opened my closed little world to the potential, even I might have.  And frankly they still inspire those feelings.

The title, Freaks, immediately caught my attention and with the back blurb being interesting and the price great I took a chance.  I am trying to explore more books in the juvenile age now that my kids are getting close to that age, so this was a great chance to make that happen.  Also, I read a lot of inappropriate books as a kid, so I want be very aware of the books my kids are reading. 

The fun infusion of steampunk for kids with a non-glamorous look at Victorian London was great.  Plus the fun extra sections at the back about the characters and author notes about Victorian London, gave it a little depth.  Mr. Larwood starts feeding out info at a very comfortable pace and creates an entertaining story.  I liked the main character, Sheba, from the beginning, but the book was a bit too in your face about her past.  As for the other characters while each was unique in background, temperament and interest, I found a lot of holes in Monkey Boy’s back story.  But for the age group this was intended for I doubt they will see any flaws.