Down the Plothole

By Annaleise Byrd

Reviewed by Mia Macrossan

This is another fun adventure in Grimm’s fairytale world featuring those two reluctant reading partners and neighbours Basil and Terry whom we first met in Losing the Plot, Annaleise’s debut middle grade novel. She has also written a witty picture book You Are Not a Pup. 

This time Terry is eager to return, possibly because of his interest in Gretel (of Hansel and Gretel fame) but Basil is not so keen, although he is interested in Briar Rose (The Sleeping Beauty). It is while reading her story that they discover a plot hole – a space where a word should be, ‘The maid plucked the … ready for the spit‘. A plot hole is the worst thing that can happen in a fairy tale, it can cause the entire fairytale world and everyone and everything in it to implode.

So once again they enter the magic portal landing in an unexpected place. From there they make several discoveries including SAD EGGS, the Society for the Active Dismantlement of Excessively Gruesome and Gory StoryLines whose members are all those people who come to a bad end in Grimms’ stories, e.g. Rumpelstilskin and the witch from Hansel and Gretel. Complications ensue when the boys discover that the animals who suffer similar fates want to join SAD EGGS and they use some interesting stratagems to get accepted, since the society is not keen to admit them, ‘after all they’re just animals‘.

This brings in an interesting theme about how we view animals, their rights and our obligations. This is quietly explored as well as themes of family and friendship in an imaginative and complicated plot that doesn’t require familiarity with Grimms’ tales, although it does add an extra spice to the narrative. Most of the references are to well known stories, Little Red Riding Hood, The Bremen Town Musicians, The Sleeping Beauty but some are not so familiar, The Mouse, The Bird and the Sausage, Herr Korbes, Clever Grethel and The Pink. 

Much of the humour in the book comes from Basil’s reactions to the situations he finds himself in described in graphic and imaginative similes. The contrast in personalities between Terry and Basil is cleverly managed and the whole story gallops along in a style guaranteed to keep any young reader glued to the book until the satisfying end. Grimm’s fairy tales are such  fertile ground that I am sure we can expect another Basil and Terry adventure, let’s hope so.

Ideal for readers aged 8+

Walker Books 2024

Annaleise Byrd