The Lambkins (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Lambkins Timnah Card Bunting, Eve The Lambkins; illus. by Jonathan Keegan. Cotler/HarperCollins, 2005180p Library ed. ISBN 0-06-059907-3$16.89 Trade ed. ISBN 0-06-059906-5$15.99 R Gr. 5-9 A harmless-looking middle-aged woman shoves fourteen-year-old Kyle Wilson into her car trunk and knocks him out with a hypodermic needle to the butt. When he wakes, he's eight inches tall and trapped in a dollhouse with three other now-tiny young people: baseball prodigy Mac, violinist Tanya, and cute little Lulu (who, at four years old, is being trained by their captor to be the next Shirley Temple). The middle-aged woman is Mrs. Shepherd, the widow of a brilliant scientist who, just before his death, developed a shot to shrink people (and keep them small with weekly boosters). The Shepherd (as the children call her) now uses her husband's invention to provide herself with kidnapped children, whom she calls Lambkins, over whom she can wield complete control. Kyle, a talented painter, has been snatched in order to fill the gap left by John, an opera singer who was accidentally killed by the Shepherd during one of John's many breakout attempts. The details of the Lambkins' pasts and the dreariness of their present increase Kyle's need to be free; however, the Shepherd is strong and sneaky (not to mention insane), and only by working together against her can the four friends escape. As with many adventure novels, this story has just sufficient characterization to make the Lambkins' plight realistic and their cooperative escape reasonable. The intimidatingly large and chillingly insane Shepherd is a superbly despicable ogress who richly deserves the ninety-mile-an-hour hardball finally launched at her forehead by Mac—enthusiastic [End Page 74] readers may even be disappointed when it is discovered that she is unconscious, not dead. Though the dénouement is quick and perhaps overoptimistic (Kyle displays an innocent trust that the police will take care of everything), it does leave open the opportunity for a sequel. A lighter treatment of the miniaturized-person theme than Gillian Cross' compelling The Dark Ground (BCCB 1/05), this fast-moving novel will find its own cadre of fans. Copyright © 2005 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois