Mister Monday by Garth Nix; Review by Kevin S.

Review by Kevin S.Mister Monday,and the rest of the series(The Keys to the Kingdom series), is one of my all-time favorites. It is about an asthmatic boy named Arthur Penhaligon.The trouble starts in the first chapter. Arthur was at his first day in a new school, and he had to run cross-country track with the rest of the school. He has an asthma attack, and is about to die, when a strange man comes out of nowhere and gives him a clock hand, thinking Arthur would die and and then he would be able to claim the "key" honestly, but the key saves Arthur's life. After that he is chased into a strange, invisible( except to him) house with seven realms, one for each day of the week. When he is chased, he meets a talking frog that is the first part of the Will, which hold the rules of the House, which each holder (Trustees) of the seven keys(one for each realm) don't listen to, which is why Arthur must claim. During his strange adventure, full of Nithlings of all kinds and unexpected turns, he gains a strange ally, Suzy Turquoise Blue, who is a Piper's child, one of the many children that the Piper (the Pied Piper) had brought into the House and worked throughout the House. Eventually, Arthur gets the full First Key and goes home to cure his town of a disease brought on by Nithlings visiting.Arthur is an average looking kid with brown hair. He was adopted by a member of an old-time band (Ratz) and a legendary doctor. He has five (I think) foster brothers and sisters. One is a Major in the Army, Erazmuz, and two live at home, Eric, a basketball star, and Michaeli. Strange family, right? Not to Arthur. He's been with them for most of his life. Suzy is an adventurous, risk-taking, non-syllable pronouncing girl who is always diving into the situation, good or bad, and always looking at the bright side.I really loved this book and the series, even though it was a bit confusing at times, and I recommend not only the book, but the whole series. If you want another Australian series to read, or you loved this one, you should try the Ranger's Apprentice series.