Cursed (Enchanted Files Series #1)

by Bruce Coville

Overview

Previously published as Diary of a Mad Brownie. Introducing The Enchanted Files—a new magical, modern-day comedy series by the master of funny fantasy and bestselling author of My Teacher is an Alien: Bruce Coville!
 
In the first hilarious Enchanted Files, Angus is a brownie. No, not the kind you eat! He’s a tiny magical creature that loves to do chores. Angus has just “inherited” a new human girl, Alex. To say that Alex is messy would be an understatement. She’s a total hurricane-like disaster—and she likes it that way, thankyouverymuch! Living with each other isn’t easy but Angus and Alex soon learn there is a curse that binds them. What’s worse, it threatens Alex’s family! Working together, Angus and Alex will set out to break the curse . . . without killing each other first . . . hopefully.

This laugh-out-loud adventure, full of humor and heart, is ideal for fans of Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library or Chris Grabenstein.

* "Smart, amusing, and a lot of fun" —Booklist (starred review)

"With magic, mischief, and mayhem to spare, this sweet story of an unlikely friendship ought to delight readers of any age." —Publishers Weekly

"A knee-slapper." —Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780525579632
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	09/19/2017
Series:	Enchanted Files Series , #1
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	39 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

BRUCE COVILLE is the author of 101 books for children and young adults, including the international bestseller My Teacher Is an Alien and the wildly popular Unicorn Chronicles series. He has been a teacher, a toymaker, a magazine editor, a gravedigger, and a cookware salesman. He is also the founder of Full Cast Audio. Bruce lives in Syracuse, New York, with his wife, author and illustrator Katherine Coville. Visit him at BruceCoville.com.

Editorial Reviews

04/20/2015
This diary-style first book in the Enchanted Files series introduces hotheaded brownie Angus Cairns, a tiny elfin creature with a penchant for cleanliness and keeping order. He's also cursed and must serve the youngest eligible female of McGonagall family; his newest master, 11-year-old Alex Carhart, could be his biggest challenge yet. She's a "disorderly, messy, negligent, slapdash, untidy, unfastidious, unsanitary creator of disorder," and Angus is sure that they will never get along. When Angus realizes that his curse has infected the entire household and could cost the Carharts their futures—Alex's father abruptly quits his job to write (terrible) songs—the two team up to find a long-lost princess to break the curse. Coville infuses Angus's diary entries (as well as interspersed letters, poems, curses, text messages, etc.) with humor and heart, creating a lovable, altruistic, and slightly grumpy hero in Angus and a determined sidekick in Alex. With magic, mischief, and mayhem to spare, this sweet story of an unlikely friendship ought to delight readers of any age. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8-12. Author's agent: Barry Goldblatt, Barry Goldblatt Literary. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"A knee-slapper."—Kirkus

From the Publisher

06/01/2015
Gr 3–6—Angus Cairns is a young brownie at only 150 years old. As a magical being, he is a subject of the Queen of Shadows, who rules the Enchanted Realm. When the old woman to whom Angus is bound passes away, the binding curse from the queen forces Angus to leave his native Scotland to live and serve in an unknown territory—America. Angus's ancestors were obligated by the curse to the McGonagall family until what was taken from the queen is returned. The curse further stipulates that all male McGonagalls will become obsessed with poetry that "shall be like the braying of asses," sure to bring embarrassment and misery. After a harrowing journey, Angus arrives at his new and strange home and finds the girl to whom he is bound, 11-year-old Alex Carhart. Not only is she a messy, disorganized child—the antithesis of brownie behavior—but there is also a brother, a younger sister, and a cat in the house. Reluctantly at first, Angus and Alex come to respect and even believe in each other. Together they break the curse, which has started to have devastating (and very funny) effects on Alex's brother and father, the cursed McGonagall male descendants. The story unfolds through Angus's diary, Alex's journal, and a host of other communiques in the form of letters, text messages, and notes. Each maintains its own cadence and the sense that magical and human worlds are meeting. The result is a humorous, quick-paced, and engaging tale. Human and magical characters are likable with characteristics that readers will recognize. VERDICT This is a fresh and fast tale that is sure to elevate the standing of brownies, goblins, and other magical beings.—Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at District of Columbia Public Library

School Library Journal

2015-04-01
A dedicated slob and a neatnik brownie, both with fierce tempers, face off in this much-expanded version of Coville's short story "Clean as a Whistle," published in Oddly Enough (1994). Coming home from school one day, young Alexandra is utterly freaked out to find her formerly chaotic bedroom neat as a pin—the work, it turns out, of her family's ancestral brownie, Angus Cairns, newly arrived from distant Scotland. Along with adding background history, the author recasts the shorter, original tale in a mix of journal entries by both Angus and Alex, interspersed with chat transcripts and other insertions. Coville also saddles the beleaguered brownie with a double curse: not only must Angus tend certain female members of the McGonagall line in each generation, but every male member of the household will at the same time be struck by an uncontrollable need to write bad, bad poetry. So, as Angus and Alex sort through anger issues on the way to a not-too-hard-won détente, they are subjected to such outpourings as "Oh no! I've caught the itch of love, / My ookie wookie turtledove" from her dad and teenage brother. Fortunately for both characters and readers, a way to break both curses lies fortuitously close at hand. Kidby provides engagingly posed pen-and-ink portraits of the various mundane and magical cast members, as well as a particularly demonic-looking cat. A knee-slapper in this or any edition. (Fantasy. 9-11)

Kirkus Reviews