Pure Dead Magic / Debi Gliori / 248 pages / Scotland

Oh my Gosh!!  School Library Journal was right!  This book is "Pure dead fun!"  Author Debi Gliori, who spent her teenagehood in Glasgow, Scotland, said that pure dead was "the phrase employed to reassure, flatter, and smooth."  It means "very fine indeed, verging on excellent."  "Pure dead anything is a Glaswegian way of underlining your point."  Set in a Scottish schloss, Pure Dead Magic is pure dead entertainment.  Cleverly written, it is the stroy of twelve year old Titus, 10 year old Pandora, 14 month old Damp, their parents, their most unusual nanny, computer technology, a croc in the moat and three most unusual pets - Knot, the Yeti, Sab the griffon, and FFup, the dragon.  Damp is inadvertently shrunk and emailed, the father is kidnapped, Damp is rescued by a talking spider, the mother is going to witch school, and the nanny, in addition to her remarkable skills, owns and uses an incredible magic compact.