Basil and Dahlia: A Tragical Tale of Sinister Sweetness by Joy McCullough (review)

Reviewed by: Basil and Dahlia: A Tragical Tale of Sinister Sweetness by Joy McCullough Kate Quealy-Gainer, Editor McCullough, Joy Basil and Dahlia: A Tragical Tale of Sinister Sweetness; illus. by Shane Cluskey. Atheneum, 2024 288p Trade ed. ISBN 9781665944236 17. 99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781665944250 10. 99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 4-6 Siblings Basil and Dahlia are on the run—after their scientist parents' death in a nasty greenhouse explosion, the brother and sister are being sent to separate foster homes, but it's a fate they avoid quite spectacularly by jumping off a train, escaping their social worker. They don't have much of a plan beyond making it to New York City, however, and eventually hunger gets the best of them, so they end up snagging some burnt chocolate eclairs in the dumpster behind a fancy bakery. When the shop's celebrity owner discovers them in the alley, however, they think they've finally got a bit of luck; Laurel Fox takes them back to her enormous (labyrinthine) apartment, gives them a comfy place to sleep and a scrumptious meal to eat. The sibs aren't totally naive, though, and some snooping reveals Ms. Fox's nefarious purposes, so now Dahlia and Basil have to figure out yet another plan of escape. With droll asides to the reader and clever meta-commentary, the wry narrator is surely kin to Lemony Snicket, and this title shares its absurdities and over-the-top villains with that series. McCullough, however, tempers the quirkiness with a fair dose of realism, especially in Basil and Dahlia's deep grief and their own misplaced shame—they're both convinced they're at fault for their parents' death, when in reality, it was just an unforeseeable accident. Ms. Fox might be a one-note villain (though still deliciously dastardly), but Basil and Dahlia are surprisingly nuanced, and their distinct qualities go beyond simply making them caricatured opposites, realizing them as two kids who accept one another's flaws and play off their strengths. The fate of the celebrity baker is a clear (though less fatal) shout out to Hansel and Gretel, and readers will be pleased to see the good guys here get a much happier ending. End Page 289 Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois