***Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism
by Georgia Byng
Reviewed November 4, 2003.
HarperCollins, New York, 2002. 371 pages.
Available at Sembach Library (JF BYN).
Molly Moon is a downtrodden orphan, living in an orphanage in Brierside
and picked on by the staff and children alike. Her only bright spot
is her best friend, Rocky, and Mrs. Trinklebury, who looked after Molly
and Rocky when they were small and had been left on the orphanage steps.
Then Molly finds a book on hypnotism. She discovers that the same
qualities that other children tease her about, her droning voice and her
huge eyes, make her a gifted hypnotist. She can get anyone to do whatever
she wants them to do.
Molly begins with rather greedy and grandiose plans, but we can’t help
rooting for her since it seems like the least she deserves after her dismal
life in the past. Her adventures take her to New York, looking for
Rocky, who had been adopted just before she found the book. Unfortunately,
there’s a shadowy dark figure looking for her, and he has something different
in mind for her hypnotism.
This is a fun first novel, with some delightful plot twists. Molly
does learn to think about the moral implications of her hypnotism.
I like the way Georgia Byng finishes the book with every character, even
the villains, better off than at the beginning.
Copyright
© 2003 Sondra Eklund. All
rights reserved.
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Book Reviews by Sondra
Eklund