WHAT THE DICKENS by Gregory Maguire, is about three children who are stuck in their house without their parents during a violent storm. Their cousin, an English teacher,decides to tell them a story about an orphan skibbereen (tooth fairy). The skibbereen knows nothing about the world, himself or even his name until one day when a cat tries to get him out of a can and he hears a voice say, "What the dickens?" He thinks that's his name.

I like the setting and I like the characters but it's not a real thriller like I thought it would be. The descriptions of the storm were exiting because I thought something was going crash into the house. Finding out what a skibbereen might look like or how they work was pretty cool. Overall, it was good, but if you're looking for a good scare, you won't find it in this book.

I give it 3.5 toads out of five.

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