In The Rise And Fall Of Mount Majestic by Jennifer Trafton 10 year old Persimmony Smudge dreams of adventures and a life bigger than her daily drudgery of sweeping the house. Lucky for her she just so happens to over hear a secret that will lead to her having adventures! The safe and wonderful Island At The Center Of Everything is not so safe and wonderful. In fact, Mount Majestic, where boy king Lucas The Lofty lives in his castle is right on top of a sleeping giant! Oh noes!! It’s on Persimmony’s shoulders to get the leafeaters and rumblebumps and sunspitters to get along and work together to keep the giant sleeping because god forbid he wakes up.
The Rise And Fall Of Mount Majestic
“Naturally there were troubles. Every so often some unfortunate soul wandered too far into into the Willow Woods and was eaten by a tortoise. The people grumbled about the king; the king grumbled about the people; the Rumblebumps grumbled about no one and were ignored by everyone. The tired workers in the pepper mill trudged their weary circle. The Leafeaters collected their tears and waited anxiously for justice. The restless mangroves paced the forest floor searching for a spot to plant their roots and be content. And a young girl with mouse-colored hair and dirty feet hid under a threadbare quilt and dreamed of glory.”
-From the book although I forget the page!
The Rise And Fall Of Mount Majestic by Jennifer Trafton is in a word, zany. I never do get to use that word and I love it. There’s so much wordplay, that I think the more enterprising child will be able to pick up on it. Much of the book is silly. Personally, I couldn’t help but smile at the scenes with the side character Worvil The Worrier-Persimmony’s friend-who thinks the worst is always going to happen. He gets stuck guarding a cave with the rumblebumps and well, it’s like when you take a really uptight person and put them in a room with really hyper children. Fun times ahoy! Plus he undergoes an ultimate transformation and I just have a soft spot for dynamic characters.
I also loved Persimmony’s wanderlust and thirst for adventure. Who doesn’t want to live a less ordinary? I love that she is persistent and doesn’t give up when obstacles enter her path. Persimmony is awesome and I think she could be appealing to children, especially obstinate children.
There are pictures inside Jennifer Trafton’s middle grade fantasy novel. They are completely charming and wonderful. The book is illustrated by Brett Helquist, who also illustrated Guys Read: Thriller. He’s pretty versatile, I really like his work.
Pick Up A Broom And Dance
There is lots of transforming and changing with the characters in The Rise And Fall Of Mount Majestic on all ends. The illustrations rock. And there is a happy ending. I’d recommend this book for ages 7-10 especially.
Disclosure: I borrowed this book from my local library! Holla taxes for a GOOD cause.
This is a CYBILS nominee.
Other Reviews of The Rise And Fall Of Mount Majestic by Jennifer Trafton:
Charlotte’s Library
Becky’s Book Reviews
Purchase The Rise And Fall Of Mount Majestic by clicking here.*Note link will take you to the evil Amazon where I have sold my soul to become an affiliate. It’s okay though because they have cookies. I know because you can order them.
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It doesn’t look like the kind of MG I normally read, but Addie may be interested in a read aloud.
I don’t have children yet, but it does look like a fun book! Great review of it – love the pictures 😀
Maybe I’ll have to pick it up for my niece. She likes to read and is 8 now.
I do like silly, and the illustrations look lovely. I like that they’re kind of within the text too!
This is exactly the type of book I would have loved in fourth or fifth grade. I’ve actually never heard of it and did a catalog search to see if any of the libraries near me own it, and a few do so I’ve added The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic to my (ever growing) holds list. I can’t wait to meet Persimmony.
This looks like a cute read. The 5th graders I had last year would love it!
This sounds really cute and I love the name Persimmony Smudge as a protagonist. I suppose MG fantasy can run a little ho-hum or overly cliche, but the illustrations on this one might sway me to pick it up. I really liked Brett Helquist’s work on Blue Balliet’s books (Chasing Vermeer, The Wright Three, etc) where the illustrations served as an added puzzle to the mystery in the stories.
And sorry for my overwhelming italics in the last comment!
To me this sounds like this book has a similar sound to Jabberwocky or Where the Wild things are. Sounds like a really terrific and fun book to read! Great review 🙂