The Menagerie (The Menagerie Series #1)

by Tui T. Sutherland, Kari H. Sutherland

Overview

Fans of Brandon Mull’s Fablehaven series and The Spiderwick Chronicles will dive into this magical, mythical fantasy series from Kari Sutherland and Tui T. Sutherland, author of the Wings of Fire series. Filled with unicorns, dragons, phoenixes, and other fairy tale creatures, the Menagerie is a highly guarded secret facility in the small town of Xanadu, Wyoming. At least, it was a secret—until six griffin cubs escaped.

If Logan and Zoe don’t get the cubs back fast, the entire Menagerie will be shut down. The race is on and the resulting adventure is only the beginning of a thrilling series that will leave readers wanting a magical menagerie of their very own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060780647
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	03/12/2013
Series:	Menagerie Series , #1
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	216,082
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)
Lexile:	710L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Tui T. Sutherland & Kari Sutherland are sisters and best friends, and if you can’t tell by looking at them which one is older, Tui certainly isn’t going to tell you. They grew up in South America, traveling a lot and moving several times (and they’re still only about 80 percent certain that their parents weren’t secret agents). Kari now lives in California, while Tui lives in Boston, but they use every excuse they can to see each other (like, say, writing a book together).

Tui T. Sutherland & Kari Sutherland are sisters and best friends, and if you can't tell by looking at them which one is older, Tui certainly isn't going to tell you. They grew up in South America, traveling a lot and moving several times (and they're still only about 80 percent certain that their parents weren't secret agents). Kari now lives in New Jersey, while Tui lives in Boston, but they use every excuse they can to see each other (like, say, writing a book together).

Editorial Reviews

Full to bursting with animated fantasy creatures, this delightful story begs to be read aloud. Animal lovers will eagerly anticipate more Logan and Zoe adventures.

ALA Booklist

There's something unusual about Logan Wilde, and it's not just that he is a newcomer to the small town of Xanadu. He has a way with animals, from his pet fish to his mice, his cat to the griffin that has hidden itself under his bed ... yes, that's right: griffin. There's something usual about Xanadu too, specifically The Menagerie on the outskirts of town. No one outside of the property's inhabitants is supposed to know about the unusual collection of magical and mythical creatures that abides there, but when five griffin cubs escape and one chooses to hide under Logan's bed, he is drawn into the mysterious place. Along with classmates Zoe Kahn and Blue (Menagerie inhabitants), Logan quickly becomes engaged in tracking down cubs, and figuring out how they escaped. When the trio come to realize that Logan's missing mother has had a long career with the Menagerie, and that the perimeter of the compound was deliberately sabotaged, they realize there's more at stake then getting a few cubs back home undetected. Readers will enjoy this satisfying introduction to an intriguing setting and community, but they may be less pleased with the novel's clumsy and abrupt "To be continued..." ending. Reviewer: Heidi Hauser Green

Children's Literature - Heidi Hauser Green

Numerous books have successfully built on a premise of human interaction with mythical creatures, but this one is overstuffed and convoluted. When Logan and his father move to the small town of Xanadu, Wyo., he becomes involved in the search for six missing griffin cubs from the Menagerie. The action is as wild and wooly as a mammoth, with those prehistoric beasts, unicorns, mermaids and hellhounds and other creatures appearing around every corner. In the space of one day, Logan complains, "my clothes have been set on fire by a phoenix, drowned by a kelpie, rolled on by a mammoth, clawed and nibbled by griffin cubs, and drenched in kraken ink." Can he help classmate Zoe and her family save the Menagerie from being shut down by SNAPA (SuperNatural Animal Protection Agency)? Driven by the plot, the characters lack depth; the creatures provide heft, but there are too many, too conveniently introduced. Pop-culture references--The Hunger Games, the Pirates of the Caribbean films, Wheel of Fortune--feel like pandering and will date the book. One clever touch is Logan's ability to communicate with the opinionated griffin cubs. Book 2 will pick up from the last sentence of the abrupt ending: "Someone had murdered the goose who laid the golden eggs." Unfortunately, the story itself lays an egg. For a really magical book about mythical animals, readers should try The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, by Patricia McKillip (1974). (Fantasy. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews

Gr 5–8—A new arrival in small-town Xanadu, Wyoming, seventh-grader Logan spends more time than he'd like to thinking about his mother's mysterious disappearance. His life becomes exciting when he discovers a baby griffin under his bed. No bigger than a puppy, Squorp turns out to be an escapee from the Menagerie, a zoo filled with mythical creatures and run by his classmate Zoe and her family. Logan soon finds himself teamed up with Zoe and her merman friend, Blue, to find five other griffin runaways. As he helps track them down, the truth about his mother's secret life begins to surface. Meanwhile, members of SNAPA, the organization in charge of all menageries, will arrive soon for an inspection and if everything is not up to par the place will be shut down. Can the trio get the griffins back in time? Who really was Logan's mom? The characters are likable, unique, and well developed, and the narrative is filled with lively dialogue and humor. The creatures, including a pair of snooty unicorns and a charismatic but murderous kelpie, are delightful. The authors do a great job of creating an attention-grabbing magical world within the realistic setting. Readers who enjoy books like Brandon Mull's Fablehaven (Aladdin, 2007) will soak up the intermixing of mythological information and mystery. The first in a series, this page-turning fantasy will fly off library shelves.—Kira Moody, Whitmore Public Library, Salt Lake City, UT

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