The Willoughbys

I am a huge Lois Lowry fan (in my opinion, anyone who can write something like The Giver is nothing short of brilliant), so when I read that she had a new book out, The Willoughbys, I knew that I had to read it. It's completely different from anything else I have read by her, but I have to say that I really enjoyed it. The Willoughbys is a spoof of all the old fashioned, orphan books you could ever think of. Lowry mentions them all in the text itself, then has a bibliography in the back. I have read 10 out of 13 of them, so I think I "got" most of the jokes. In reality, though, I think that you could enjoy this just as much without having read any of the references.

The Willoughbys is the story of the Willoughby family, with two rather beastly parents, children Timothy, Barnaby A and Barnaby B (twins), and Jane, and a not so odious nanny. I'm not even sure how to talk about this book, other than to say that it was composed as a giant joke, and I found myself laughing out loud many, many times throughout. One of my favorite passages is in the first chapter, when the children find an abandoned baby on their front step.

Their mother, frowning, opened the door at the end of the long hall. She emerged from the kitchen. "Whatever is that noise?" she asked. "I am trying to remember the ingredients for meat loaf and I cannot hear myself think."

"Oh, someone has left a beastly baby on our front steps," Tim told her.

"My goodness, we don't want a baby!" their mother said, coming forward to take a look. "I don't like the feel of this at all."

"I'd like to keep it," Jane said in a small voice. "I think it's cute."

"No, it's not cute," Barnaby A said, looking down at it.

"Not cute at all," Barnaby B agreed.

"It has curls," Jane pointed out.

Their mother peered at the baby and then reached toward the basket of beige knitting that she kept on a hall table. She removed a small pair of gold-plated scissors and snipped them open and closed several times, thoughtfully. Then she leaned over the basket and used the scissors.

"Now it doesn't have curls," she pointed out, and put the scissors away.

Jane stared at the baby. Suddenly it stopped crying and stared back at her with wide eyes. "Oh, dear. It isn't cute without curls," Jane said. "I guess I don't want it anymore."

"Take it someplace else, children," their mother said, turning back toward the kitchen. "Dispose of it. I'm busy with a meat loaf."

And it just gets better from there. This is a fun, light, kind of fluffy book. It's categorized with the children's fiction, and I think that children would probably enjoy the story, but I'm guessing that they might not find it terribly funny. That said, it's a fantastic summer read, and I'm extremely impressed with Lowry's wit and the breadth of genres in which she excels.

P.S. there is a great glossary at the very end, that is just as funny as the rest of the book. Make sure not to miss it! Here are a few of my favorite entries.

AFFABLE means good-natured and friendly. There are whole groups of people who are known for being affable. Cheerleaders, for example. Or Mormon missionaries.

AUSPICIOUS means that there are a lot of good omens indicating that something is going to turn out well. If you happen to see a large number of people wearing scarlet footwear in October, it is auspicious. It means the Red Sox are going to win the World Series. Yes!

CONSPIRACY is a plan to do something subversive. Three guys planning a camping trip... nah, that's just three guys planning a camping trip. But three guys planning to take a camping trip and rob a bank along the way... that's a conspiracy.

CRYPTIC means seeming to have a hidden meaning. If your mother says, "Consider yourself grounded, mister!" it is not at all cryptic. But if she says in a certain voice, "We need to talk," she is being cryptic. And you are about to be grounded.