The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic

What do you do when your ten-year-old daughter hands you a book and says, “You have to read this. Then, I want to see it on your blog. And I’ll help.”

You read it, of course. So I did.

Persimmony Smudge lives in Candlenut, by the Willow Wood, where the summit of Mount Majestic is plainly visible. The castle of King Lucas the Loftier is there, and to all appearances it’s an ordinary mountain. But appearances can be deceiving. Underneath it sleeps a giant. If he awakes, the whole island will be destroyed, and it’s up to Persimmony to spread the word to a skeptical population of Leaf-eaters, Rumblebumps, King and villagers.

It’s a tall order, but somehow we always believe that Persimmony, a spunky 10-year-old heroine with hair like dirty dishwater, will rise to the occasion. She and her band of unlikely companions — a poetry-writing general, the shriveled and fearful Worvil, and an aged potter named Theodore — all work together to save the day.

The book is filled with memorable characters, including Mrs. Smudge, who has moral objections to many things including reading and birthday parties; King Lucas, whose favorite food is pepper; and Theodore, who makes magic pots that produce not necessarily what you want, but what you need.

I love the story’s premise. Who hasn’t looked at a hillside and had the fleeting thought, “That looks like a giant sleeping”? Yet what an uncertain, wonder-filled world it would be if the ground underfoot might rise up and crumble any minute. Also under the ground are the Leaf-eaters, a humanish species with their own code of conduct and a deep-seated grudge against the “Sunspitters” who live on the earth’s surface. Somehow the surface-dwellers need to make a kind of peace with these and other forces beyond their control.

The conclusion affirms the wonder and the gift of each day, but not without a few thrills and chills along the way. Both my daughter and I were a little disappointed with one mystery that never gets solved, and I wished we could have gotten to know the giant a little better. But all in all it was a great adventure story with a very likable heroine. I especially liked that this was the first book my daughter has ever assigned to me!