The Tickling Tale of Smoo
Louiza Kallona
126p, e-book, $2.99, ASIN B0BQFNF5C3
Kallona’s playfully imaginative novel for middle-grade readers follows a girl named Lucy on an adventure to discover why everyone in her family has stopped laughing—as well as her own exciting destiny. The story begins during a snowy winter in the Scottish town of Fiddle Wood, where 12-year-old Lucy lives with her parents, her brother, Ben, and grandmother. Predictably, everyone is bored and miserable, having been stuck indoors for weeks on end. One day it occurs to Lucy that no one has laughed in a long time, not even Grandma, who had “an incredible hooting laugh which made everyone else laugh too.” When Lucy mentions this, Grandma makes a surprising declaration: “It’s the Old Man of Smoo!” she insists.
While Grandma is seen by some as a “batty old woman,” Lucy and Ben take her seriously. Without hesitation, they and their Uncle Patrick accompany the elderly woman on a trip to find Gabel Lylhu, who Grandma explains is “one of the ticklers of the world” and whose name is an anagram for “belly laugh.” On their journey, Lucy learns Gabel is responsible for keeping the world laughing, and his inaction has led to a widespread lack of humor. As Lucy and her family put together the pieces of the puzzle, she discovers her own surprising connection to the ticklers, a story development that will encourage young readers to delve into their own unique family histories.
From start to finish, this tale is relentlessly offbeat and fanciful, inviting readers to enter a world where laughing gull feathers are as valuable as treasure and Gabel must sniff out Smoo’s armpits with his “Nez Extraordinaire.” At times this extravagant fantasy can become nonsensical, but it is grounded by Lucy’s unwavering respect for her grandmother and, in the end, her exciting personal revelation. Young readers will relate to Lucy’s plight as they undertake similar ventures of self-discovery in their own lives.
This playful story follows a girl’s efforts to discover why everyone has stopped laughing.
Great for fans of Kat Zhang’s The Emperor’s Riddle, Varian Johnson’s The Parker Inheritance.