The Luck Uglies

July 1, 2016
Having narrowly saved her father from the titular villains of the preceding Fork-Tongue Charmers, Rye returns to Village Drowning to save her home. Folly and Quinn help Rye set up the final epic battle between the Luck Ugly factions developed throughout the trilogy. Durham serves up a satisfying series conclusion full of familiar characters and daring hijinks.

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

February 1, 2016
Grades 4-7 A reckoning is imminent for Rye, Harmless, and the village of Drowning in the final volume of this entertaining and original series. Having escaped death more times than seems possible, Harmless prepares for a final showdown with Slinister, the leader of the Fork-Tongue Charmers, for the right to be called High Chieftain of the Luck Uglies. But with the Luck Uglies scattered, Bog Nobbins have overrun Drowning, leaving the village a terrorized, mostly abandoned place. Rye once again finds herself in the middle of the action, and as she and her friends battle to save the village, her breathless recklessness will either doom or preserve them. Durham has infused such life into Rye's world over the course of this series that watching it teeter makes for a heart-stopping reading experience. But as Harmless says, Sometimes, when you get to the end, you realize that the journey was the best part, and Rye O'Chanter's journey from ragamuffin to heroine has been nothing less than exhilarating.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2016
The plot deepens and expands in Book 3 of the middle-grade Luck Uglies series. Plucky protagonist Rye O'Chanter, her little sister, Lottie, and their parents, Abby and Harmless, are hiding out in Beyond the Shale, the forest beyond the Village Drowning. The Fork-Tongue Charmers, evil splinter group of the Luck Uglies, want to kill Harmless, the High Chieftain of the Luck Uglies, so that Slinister, their leader, can claim leadership. Determined to settle this power struggle, which is destroying the Village Drowning and unbalancing the land around it, Harmless sends Rye into Village Drowning to call a Reckoning--a final deliberation among all members of the Luck Uglies to determine who will be High Chieftain. But this, as it turns out, is perilous. Durham paints a story of good vs. evil with gray rather than black and white. Harmless is not harmless and hints to Rye that he has done awful things. Slinister may not be as sinister as his reputation colors him. And in trying to save Village Drowning, Rye makes a decision that could destroy more than it saves. The plentiful action and well-conceived settings will keep readers turning the pages, although they may unintentionally keep the underlying theme of the destruction created by lust for power and its inevitable cost to innocents from being felt as keenly as it should be. Well-written, action-packed, with a timeless, timely theme. (Fantasy. 8-13)

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May 1, 2016

Gr 5-7-Village Drowning is suffering, and no word has come from it as Rye (Riley) O'Chanter, her little sister, and her mother hide out in Beyond the Shale, waiting and looking for Rye's father. Harmless is more than Rye's father; he is the chieftain of the Luck Uglies, the town's protectors, who are threatened by the ambitious, evil Slinister. As Rye and her friends in Drowning reunite and work to save their village and families, she discovers that things are not always clear-cut and that people-including parents-can be good and bad. Fast-paced and tense, with likable characters, this is a worthy addition to the series. VERDICT Though this third installment works as a stand-alone, it's best appreciated by readers of the previous books.-Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at District of Columbia Public Library

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 21, 2014
In Durham's witty fantasy debut, 11-year-old Rye O'Chanter is bent on mischief with her friends Quinn and Folly. They live in Village Drowning, a muddy place haunted by tales of ravenous Bog Noblins, vicious creatures from Beyond the Shale, and criminal Luck Uglies, outlaw robbers long since driven away by the Earl of Longchance, who holds Drowning in an iron grip. Rye's household offers no respite from the peculiarities of the outside world: her mother enforces a cryptic set of House Rules, Rye's pet cat Shady can't possibly be only a cat, and her father's identity remains unknown to her. When a monster from legend and a tattooed man named Harmless appear, Rye aligns with the blind street rat Truitt and the Earl's unpleasant daughter, Malydia, to help the Luck Uglies save Drowning from dangers without and tyranny within. First in a planned trilogy, this adventure staggers slightly under the weight of its thorny plot turns, but is kept aloft by brisk wordplay, a charming heroine, and a provocative blurring of the border between heroism and villainy. Ages 8â12. Author's agent: Michelle Andelman, Regal Literary.