The Luck Uglies (The Luck Uglies Series #1)

by Paul Durham, Petur Antonsson (Illustrator)

Overview

The first in a series with the makings of a modern classic, The Luck Uglies is an irresistible cross between Joseph Delaney's The Last Apprentice and Chris Colfer's Land of Stories series, overflowing with adventure, secrets, friendship, and magic.

Rye O'Chanter has seen a lot of strange things happen in Village Drowning: children are chased through the streets. Families are fined for breaking laws that don't even exist. Girls aren't allowed to read anymore, and certain books—books that hold secrets about Drowning's past—have been outlawed altogether.

Now a terrifying encounter has eleven-year-old Rye convinced that the monstrous, supposedly extinct Bog Noblins have returned. Before the monsters disappeared, there was only one way to defeat them—the Luck Uglies. But the Luck Uglies have long since been exiled, and there's nobody left who can protect the village.

As Rye dives into Drowning's maze of secrets, rules, and lies, she begins to question everything she's been told about the village's legend of outlaws and beasts . . . and what she'll discover is that it may take a villain to save them from the monsters.

This critically acclaimed debut middle grade novel was named an ALA Notable Book and a New York Public Library Title for Reading and Sharing and won the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Speculative Fiction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062271518
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	03/31/2015
Series:	Luck Uglies Series , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	100,990
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Paul Durham wrote this book and The Luck Uglies in an abandoned chicken coop at the edge of a swamp. He lives in New Hampshire with his wife, two daughters, and an enormous, bushy creature the local animal shelter identified as a cat.

Editorial Reviews

A magical, mist-shrouded world humming with danger and mystery.

Jonathan Auxier

The Luck Uglies has it all: a feisty heroine, monstrous creatures, and a brimful of humor, and horror, to keep the readers turning the pages.

Joseph Delaney

Midnight adventures, smart humor, a richly imagined otherworld, and winsome characters—The Luck Uglies has the perfect ingredients for a spell-binding read. If you are lucky enough to pick up this book, prepare for a wild ride!

Marissa Burt

Paul Durham has created the best kind of fantasy world—one that is equal parts wondrous and deadly, and in which the line between heroism and villainy is deliciously blurred.

Christopher Healy

Funny, magical, and absolutely crackling with those little sparks that make a book wonderful. It’s an action-packed adventure with heroes you’ll root for and baddies you’ll hiss at, all set in a land that I, for one, would love to visit again.

Stefan Bachmann

By turns funny and heart-stopping . . . a bona fide page-turner.

Booklist (starred review)

07/21/2014
In Durham's witty fantasy debut, 11-year-old Rye O'Chanter is bent on mischief with her friends Quinn and Folly. They live in Village Drowning, a muddy place haunted by tales of ravenous Bog Noblins, vicious creatures from Beyond the Shale, and criminal Luck Uglies, outlaw robbers long since driven away by the Earl of Longchance, who holds Drowning in an iron grip. Rye's household offers no respite from the peculiarities of the outside world: her mother enforces a cryptic set of House Rules, Rye's pet cat Shady can't possibly be only a cat, and her father's identity remains unknown to her. When a monster from legend and a tattooed man named Harmless appear, Rye aligns with the blind street rat Truitt and the Earl's unpleasant daughter, Malydia, to help the Luck Uglies save Drowning from dangers without and tyranny within. First in a planned trilogy, this adventure staggers slightly under the weight of its thorny plot turns, but is kept aloft by brisk wordplay, a charming heroine, and a provocative blurring of the border between heroism and villainy. Ages 8–12. Author's agent: Michelle Andelman, Regal Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Enter the village of Drowning, where Bog Nobles once lived. Or do they still? Eleven-year-old Rye lives there with her two good friends, her mother, and her toddler sister. Rye knows no fear and is determined to get to the bottom of the lore of her village, even though doing so is forbidden; in fact, girls are not even supposed to read. Stories of villains and beasts abound, but it is hard to know what is real and what is not. What are the raven-like gargoyles adorning the rooftops? Is the Earl of Longchance the town’s protector or its worst enemy? Who is the man Harmless who is suddenly around? What is his connection to her mother—and to the Luck Uglies? Was it a Bog Noble she encountered that night in the woods? As events unfold, Rye finds herself a captive of the Earl’s, meandering through a maze of underground tunnels and sewers, and risking life and limb to save her family and her town. Durham’s characters, both the young and the old, are crafted with care; they are neither black nor white, but rather each has flaws as well as at least a modicum of goodness. Intrigue, adventure, and subtlety fill the pages. Petur Antonsson’s grey-tone sketches adorn each chapter page and help the reader better understand the creatures and magical objects in the story. A slightly tongue-in-cheek glossary of some Durham’s fanciful words is also helpful. This rip-roaring tale does not come up for a breath, and neither will the reader, who will anxiously await the second book in this trilogy! Reviewer: Peg Glisson; Ages 9 to 13.

Children's Literature - Peg Glisson

03/01/2014
Gr 5–7—Eleven-year-old Rye and her best friends, Quinn and Folly, are curious about their town and its history. What really lies beyond Village Drowning's walls in the area known as Beyond the Shale? Do the huge, ravenous monsters known as Bog Noblins actually exist? Are there still avengers known as Luck Uglies? The trio tries to find answers in Tam's Tome, a book banned by the Earl. In their quest for knowledge, the children become accidental thieves and must escape from the Angry Poet. Together with help from her friends, Rye uncovers the village's secrets (and those within her own family), including an underground maze that leads from one end of the village to the other. Confrontations with Bog Noblins bring back the banished and much maligned Luck Uglies to defeat the evil creatures and return justice to Drowning. Rye learns that things aren't always as they seem and that people are not all good or bad but often somewhere in between. Nonstop action makes for a rollicking good tale set in a medieval-like place and period. The fast plot is enhanced by humor, likable characters—including some adults—undiluted heroism, frightful Bog Noblins, and a despicable Earl. Altogether, this is a fast, fresh, and engaging adventure sure to delight readers on several levels.—Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at District of Columbia Public Library

School Library Journal

★ 2014-02-05
A sparkling middle-grade fantasy opens a trilogy. Rye O'Chanter is a somewhat clumsy 11-year-old who enjoys hijinks with best friends Quinn and Folly on the roofs and lanes of Village Drowning, a dark, medieval-feeling town. It's run by a nasty, self-absorbed earl and surrounded by bogs that have spawned a legend of Bog Noblins—vile beasts who eat unwary villagers and adorn themselves with necklaces made out of said villagers' feet. Many years earlier, a secret society of protectors named Luck Uglies had fought and vanquished the Bog Noblins, and now, neither monsters nor secret society members exist. Or do they? When a real, not-just-legend, Bog Noblin shows up and begins to terrorize Village Drowning, old fears as well as old secrets are resurrected. Debut author Durham spins a tale of intrigue and adventure peopled with characters so individually full of both goodness and flaws that readers will immediately relate. It is this nuance of character that raises the narrative above the trope of a good-vs.-evil storyline and into richer, more layered territory. Durham combines intelligent writing that does not talk down to the intended audience with an innocent charm—a concoction that is sure to captivate readers and make them thankful that this is Book 1 of a trilogy. Layers, nuance, wit and a thumping good story make this a must-read. (Fantasy. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews