The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book IV - by Maryrose Wood (Paperback)

About the Book

"Miss Penelope Lumley receives an invitation to speak at the annual Celebrate Alumnae Knowledge Exposition (or CAKE) at the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females. Optoomuchstic as ever, Penelope hopes to give her CAKE talk, see some old friends, and show off the Incorrigible children to Miss Mortimer, but instead she finds her beloved school in an uproar."--Amazon.com.

Book Synopsis

The fourth book in the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place--the acclaimed and hilarious Victorian mystery series by Maryrose Wood, perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket and Trenton Lee Stewart--has a brand-new look.

Turning sixteen is a bittersweet occasion for Miss Penelope Lumley. Luckily, an invitation to speak at the annual Celebrate Alumnae Knowledge Exposition (or CAKE) at the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females provides just the diversion Penelope needs.

Optoomuchstic as ever, Penelope hopes to give her CAKE talk, see some old friends, and show off the Incorrigible children to Miss Mortimer, but instead she finds her beloved school in an uproar. And when Penelope is asked by the Swanburne Academy board of trustees to demonstrate the academic progress of her three wolfish students so they can judge the true worth of a Swanburne education, the future of her alma mater--and of her job as governess to the Incorrigibles--hangs in the balance.

From the Back Cover

Of especially naughty children, it is sometimes said: "They must have been raised by wolves." The Incorrigible children actually were.

When Miss Penelope Lumley is invited to speak at the Celebrate Alumnae Knowledge Exposition, she expects the trip to her alma mater to be a piece of cake--or rather, CAKE. Alas, something ominous is afoot at the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, and her old enemy, Judge Quinzy, is the reason why. With the help of a friendly pirate, some talented chickens, and those clever Incorrigible children, Penelope won't be easily defeated. To save the school, she must find out precisely what lies within the covers of a strange diary about shipwrecks and cannibals she found in Lord Fredrick Ashton's library. Too bad the pages are unreadable . . . or are they?

Review Quotes

"It's the best beginning since The Bad Beginning [by Lemony Snicket] and will leave readers howling for the next episode." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review), about The Mysterious Howling (Book 1)
"Jane Eyre meets Lemony Snicket in this smart, surprising satire of a 19th-century English governess story. Humorous antics and a climactic cliff-hanger ending will keep children turning pages and clamoring for the next volume, while more sophisticated readers will take away much more. Frequent plate-sized illustrations add wit and period flair." - School Library Journal (starred review), about The Mysterious Howling (Book 1)
"How hearty and delicious...Smartly written with a middle-grade audience in mind, this is both fun and sprinkled with dollops of wisdom (thank you, Agatha Swanburne). How will it all turn out? Appetites whetted." - Booklist (starred review), about The Mysterious Howling (Book 1)
"With a Snicketesque affect, Wood's narrative propels the drama...pervasive humor and unanswered questions should have readers begging for more. " - Publishers Weekly (starred review), about The Mysterious Howling (Book 1)
"The undercurrent of "something wicked this way comes" and the signs of impending trouble for both governess and charges make the air here thick with (dreadful!) possibilities. Questions about the children's backgrounds, Penelope's connections to them, and Lord Ashton's own wolfish behavior set the stage for the next act of this most excellent adventure." - Booklist (starred review), about The Hidden Gallery (Book 2)
"Another series of uproarious escapades. fans of the first book will be happy to go along for the madcap ride." - School Library Journal, about The Hidden Gallery (Book 2)
"[A] madcap sequel. Great fun, and it wouldn't be optoomuchstic to expect more to come." - Kirkus Reviews, about The Hidden Gallery (Book 2)
"Still howling good fun." - Kirkus Reviews, about The Unseen Guest (Book 3)
"Whets the appetite for the next installment in this wonderful series. A must-have." - School Library Journal, about The Unseen Guest (Book 3)
"Happily, the mysteries deepen at Ashton Place in this fourth volume in the Incorrigible Children series. Once again delightful wordplay and a plot that snakes itself around a suspicious family tree add to the deliciousness." - Booklist (starred review), about The Interrupted Tale (Book 4)