Archer’s Goon

Product Information

Fairytale elements abound, principally seven siblings (with the youngest being special) as also absent parents, and hints of other fantasies ( The Hobbit, Arthurian legends), with underground sequences hinting at mythology. Even so, they are an intriguing group, and it’s fun to try to work out what part each plays in the story. The only thing to watch out for is that the particular paperback edition pictured seems to fall to pieces. The film was nominated for an Academy Award in 2006, and became one of the most financially successful Japanese films in history. Considering how children’s books can sometimes bounce straight from one thing to the next, I find the time for reflection good – especially since some of the ideas and events can take a minute to wrap your head around – though others may wish it would pick up the pace.

Even when it feels too self-aware, the joke is expanded on, or compounded, in a way that makes it very clear from where Hilary McKay inherited some of her style.And scenes that couldn't be written today in children's literature, like for example a 10 year old getting drunk and having a grand hangover the next day.

And this might be a kids' book (my library put it under Juvenile), but I didn't feel like she was dumbing anything down. None of the rest seem to know the point of those writing samples or why the Sykes family has been caught up in this affair, but they quickly launch a tug-of-war power struggle over the household, all demanding their own pieces to study and learn what the others are up to.The Goon says that Howard's dad owes Archer his quarterly payment of 2000 words and the Goon's there to collect. Howard's guess is correct, and as he climbs up the stairs of the unfinished building, he discovers that each step ages him and the building completes itself around him as he moves forward in time.