Booklist Reviews
Mildew and Sponge's school, Maudlin Towers, is just as dreary as it sounds, but for the pair of outcasts, it's particularly loathsome, thanks to know-it-all bullies and a cruel gym teacher. When the School Spoon goes missing, Mildew is inspired by his favorite fictional detective to take on the case. In the course of their investigation, Mildew and Sponge notice all manner of strange things, including an out-of-place Viking, a maybe ghost, a new Latin instructor who's uncommonly good at the ancient language, and a suspiciously engaging history teacher who turns up in the oddest places. Those strange events and the non sequitur–filled interactions Mildew and Sponge have with the students and staff seem random at first, but once the amateur detectives discover a time machine, everything clicks nicely together. Priestley's Goreyesque spot illustrations, in thin, jittery ink lines and plenty of crosshatched shadows, add to the overall off-kilter mood. While the grim, macabre atmosphere feels more decorative than inherently spooky, middle-grade fans of madcap mysteries will likely be pleased with this one. Grades 3-6. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews.
Horn Book Guide Reviews
When the founder's School Spoon disappears from boarding school Maudlin Towers, the headmaster threatens to cancel Christmas break unless it's recovered. Friends Mildew and Sponge investigate, discovering a secret time machine, a rumored ghost, and a werewolf along the way. While the time-travel aspect becomes convoluted, the mock-Gothic elements and dry wit should attract fans of darkly comic tales. Pen-and-ink illustrations add Edward Goreyesque visual humor. Copyright 2019 Horn Book Guide Reviews.
Kirkus Reviews
Odd doings at the Maudlin Towers School for the Not Particularly Bright Sons of the Not Especially Wealthy. First young Arthur Mildew and Algernon Spongely-Partwork spot (to quote the title of Chapter 1) "A Viking in the Ha-Ha." Shortly thereafter the school's prized Spoon is stolen (twice), and rumors of an arm-waving ghost give way to the arrival of a beautiful, arm-waving new Latin teacher. The lads decide to do a bit of "detectivating" (Mildew, explaining "red herring" to his dim associate: "Something that seems relevant at first but turns out not to be. Like algebra")—and hardly have they begun than they come upon a time machine built by former physics instructor Mr. Particle before his recent gruesome death. Decorating his "unfortunate events"-style narrative with gothic ink drawings of the all-white (even corpselike) students, faculty, and occasional slavering monster, Priestley sends his bumbling but resourceful detectivators crisscrossing back and forth from th eir present to Viking times, Roman Britain, and even into the future (where cookies are shockingly expensive and which readers will find quite familiar). By the end all mysteries are sorted (more or less), and Sponge and Mildew are left gloomily poised for another outing. There's no place like school, "grimy, gargoyle-encrusted walls" and all. (Gothic farce. 10-12) Copyright Kirkus 2018 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
School Library Journal Reviews