‘The Shrunken Head – The Curiosity House, #1’ (7 out of 10) by Lauren Oliver & H.C. Chester. HarperCollins Children’s Books. Available 9/29/15.
Dime museums, which offered a variety of amusement for one ticket price, originated in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and experienced the height of their popularity in the latter half of the 19th century after the Civil War. Dime Museum exhibitions were not about authenticity; illusions, hoaxes and humbuggery were common and anticipated, creating an intellectually gratifying activity for visitors to investigate. Based on the principles of variety and the stimulation of curiosity, exhibits aspired to the weird and wonder inspiring – including curiosities, menageries, theaters, and “freak” shows – which could be terrifying and exotic.
In ‘The Shrunken Head (The Curiosity House, #1)’, Dumfrey’s Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities and Wonders is one of the last curiosity houses in New York. All the rest have closed the doors. Things have been looking bleak for the people who work at Dumfrey’s until Mr. Dumfrey acquires a shrunken head. It’s not any shrunken head but purported to be an Amazonian shrunken head. A local newspaper man comes to see it and is soon printing sensational stories about it. When the head goes missing and bodies start showing up someone needs to investigate. Hat do you know? There just happen to be four orphan children who live and work at Dumfrey’s. Philippa who reads minds, Sam the strongman, Thomas who can twist his body like a pretzel and finally Max the knife thrower. They are determined to get to the bottom of what is happening.
The book starts a bit slowly, but once all of the major and secondary characters are established it really picks up steam and drives to a compelling conclusion. Lauren Oliver has done a good job of setting the scenes – both at the Dime Museum and in New York City generally. This is not a bare bones mystery; a lot of attention is paid to developing the characters even as the plot propels them all forward. The result is that you get a gripping murder mystery adventure and a decent friendship growing-up sort of tale. That’s hard to pull off, and it’s done well here.
No plot spoilers, especially because the plot is not the main attraction of the book, and will be fairly obvious to regular readers of books like this. The characters are more developed and more appealing than you might expect, and the growing regard and affection the four orphans feel as they mold themselves into a family of sorts is the compelling heart of this sneakily engaging adventure. Like all good mysteries there are plenty of red herrings along with fun twists and turns. If you’re looking for a charming, middle grade adventure featuring a cast of misfits and oddballs, this might just be the one.
-Dagobot
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