The Crims

September 1, 2017

Gr 4-6-Imogen Crim is trying to escape her family's legacy of bumbling criminal activity. She has gotten clean, changed her name, and is trying to restart her life at Lilyworth Ladies College. But when her family takes credit for a major heist, Imogen is expelled. She sets out to prove her family didn't commit the crime-after all, there's no way her small-time crook relatives could have planned and executed something so complex. However, proving their innocence is not going to be easy. This series opener is filled with unique, memorable characters. The mix of sophisticated wordplay and gut-busting potty humor will attract a wide range of readers. VERDICT Hand this to fans of Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" or Eoin Colfer's "Artemis Fowl" series.-Patrick Tierney, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, Providence

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2017
Imogen's plan to become head girl at Lilyworth Ladies' College is sabotaged when she's exposed as belonging to a (singularly inept) crime family; to overturn her expulsion, she must prove they were framed for a heist they're proud of. With mixed feelings, Imogen returns home to Crim House in aptly named Blandington (the setting's England, the family white). Ever since Big Nana disappeared in a submarine heist gone wrong, the Crims have been bereft of leadership. With the other adults languishing in jail, extremely absent-minded Freddie minds the Horrible Children, who, when not plotting capers, enjoy playing poker (everyone cheats) and setting fires indoors. The thrill of achieving celebrity-criminal status fading, the family confesses to Imogen that they didn't steal the missing Capt. Crook lunchbox, worth 1 million pounds. With Big Nana gone, all depend on Imogen to discover the culprit. Is it Jack Wooster, Uncle Clyde's longtime rival? Or Charm Ltd., the company replacing the image of beloved (though evil) Capt. Crook with Capt. Caring on the lunchbox? Or come worst, the Kruks, a genuinely successful, scary crime family? To solve the mystery, Imogen first must mend fences with the Horrible Children, whom she'd deserted for Lilyworth. Fans of English humor will enjoy the airily convoluted plot, kid-focused absurdities, and broad satire, all adorned with sly humor, tricky details, and hefty swaths of slapstick. Jolly good criminal fun. (Fiction. 8-12)

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October 16, 2017
Slapstick humor and one-liners drive this British caper about 12-year-old Imogen Crim, who hails from an infamously inept crime family. Imogen’s attempt to reinvent herself as head girl at the prestigious Lilyworth Ladies’ College comes to an end when an anonymous letter exposes her identity; after being expelled, she returns to the dull village of Blandington and her large, madcap family. The convoluted plot involves “The Heist,” her Uncle Clyde’s “carefully crafted, amazingly idiotic scheme to steal his long-lost Captain Crook lunch box back from Jack Wooster, his former friend and current enemy.” The lunch box is now valued at one million pounds, and the elder Crims happily serve jail time for the theft, in order to achieve felonious fame. To reclaim her place in boarding school, Imogen must enlist the help of her young cousins, aka the Horrible Children, to prove the family’s innocence. British author Davies believably sketches Imogen’s initial frustrations with her bungling relatives and eventual realization that she loves and is truly one of them. Fans of broad humor and outsize antics will enjoy this off-kilter romp. Ages 8–12.

October 15, 2017
Grades 4-7 Imogen's dream of being head girl is shattered when she is revealed to be a Crimone of a family of woefully inept criminalsand subsequently expelled. An elaborate heist recently landed most of the Crims in jail and, to their delight, on the front page of the newspaper, but Imogen is certain her family is incapable of pulling off such a crime. Heartbroken, she returns home, determined to prove their innocence and return to school with her name cleared. From the get-go, Davies' light tone, throwaway lines, and inventive details let readers know they're in for a hilarious, eccentric romp. She successfully avoids quirk's dreaded pitfalls, thanks to Imogen, who grounds the madcap plot with her conflicting desires to live an independent, reformed life and to embrace her family and their law-flaunting ways. As Imogen and her cousins investigate the theft, utilizing many illegal techniques, surprising facts emerge about who is really to blame. With Mysterious Benedict Society flair, Davies' novel is packed with ridiculous criminal plans, secret hideaways, wordplay, and heart. In other words, it delivers the goods.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2018
Davies swells the ranks of incorrigible children from disreputable families with her introduction of a family of (mostly unsuccessful) malfeasants and criminals. When the adults of the Crim family are wrongly imprisoned, it's up to criminal genius Imogen--who's been in hiding at Lilyworth Ladies' College--and the other Horrible Children to free them. Slapstick, fast-paced, and ridiculously entertaining, this book has superb read-aloud potential.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)