The Ministry of SUITs

Debut author Gamble combines outrageous adventure and a tongue-in-cheek tone to create a novel that’s both thoughtful and filled with laughs. Jack Pearse is a naturally curious 12-year-old who lives in Northern Ireland. After his quick thinking thwarts a rampaging bear, the Ministry of Strange, Unusual, and Impossible Things comes calling. Recruited by the organization, Jack is paired up with Trudy, a classmate with “a reputation for being dangerous and punching people who irritated her,” to uncover the mystery of their school’s new sponsor, as well as why students—particularly those considered odd or loners—have been disappearing. While the children occasionally succeed where adults fear to tread, the story is presented as a cooperative effort among heroes young, old, and inhuman. Relatively short, action-filled chapters keep things moving briskly, despite interruptions from frequent (and quite funny) footnotes and excerpts from the Ministry handbook, which cover everything from the role of kangaroos in the manufacturing of duvet covers to why pirates “always bury their money rather than making use of more convenient online banking.” Ages 9–13. Agent: Gemma Cooper, Bent Agency. (July)