41. The Lost Galumpus

The Lost Galumpus. by Joseph Helgerson. Illustrated by Udayana Lugo. 2023. [January] 384 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Getting Mayor Crawdaddy out of his oak tree usually took a catastrophe. Sometimes two. He was a raccon who liked his comforts. "We're being invaded!" I called out, stretching things a bit on account of the snowstorm I was standing in. Possum fur isn't as warm as it could be, especially after dark. 

Premise/plot:  This is the premise that grabbed me, "A time-traveling woolly mammoth finds refuge and rescue at the unlikely hands of a possum and his community of woodland friends." The first sentence sealed the deal. Gilly [a possum] narrates this action-packed charmer. 

Essentially, the story goes like this, a blizzard is interrupted by the sudden appearance of a HUGE SOMEBODY. No one in the woods--including Gilly and Mayor Crawdaddy [the raccoon]--know *what* this "Galumpus" is. The only story they're being told is that this "Galumpus" wished herself there...and that she's too scared to want to go back. Eventually--with a little help from a futuristic robot--everyone learns that time travel has occurred. There's a small window of time to right things...

My thoughts: This one is a bit wild and whimsical. Talking animals make it animal fantasy, yet, the robots and the reality of time travel make it science fiction. Regardless of its classification as "science fiction" or "fantasy" this one is action-packed. At times it can be a bit busy...yet despite it being busy, it held onto charm from cover to cover.

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Young Readers