The Ugly Teapot, Book 1: Hannah

In his first novel, Holmes (Letters from Dad) introduces 14-year-old Hannah Bradbury, whose photojournalist father has recently died while on an assignment in Iraq. The last gift he gave her was a beat-up lamp (“It looked like a teapot, and a particularly unattractive teapot at that”) that he swore was Aladdin’s lamp. After Hannah rubs the lamp, a genie appears; naturally, she wishes for her father to be alive again, despite the genie’s cautions. Thus begins an adventure in which Hannah struggles to keep the lamp out of the hands of the evil Magician and return it to the fabled Cave of Forty Thieves with help from friends and her dog, Griff. Holmes crafts a fast-paced adventure, one that includes a few relatively horrific scenes, as Hannah travels from her Tennessee hometown to Iraq, but the story stumbles as questions build and are left unanswered (such as Hannah’s telepathic communication with Griff). Though the revelations of the final chapters offer something of a blanket explanation for any inconsistencies that arise, readers who have invested in Hannah’s journey may feel cheated by what they learn. Ages 12–up. (BookLife)