My Aunt, the Monster: A Magical Mystery #1

This first Magical Mystery fails to make good on the promise of the series' enticing title. With a sprinkling of some powder he receives from an elderly Native American woman, seven-year-old Denny inadvertently transforms his cranky aunt, pet cat and parakeet into a single creature, an ill-tempered griffin, which he and his older sister, Natalie, smuggle with them on a trip to their uncle's farm. Natalie's attempts to decipher a cryptic message and ""unmagic"" the griffin entangle her in a web whose disparate strands include Native American lore and the laws of thermodynamics. Thirteen-year-old Natalie is an agreeably flippant narrator and her voice is Stanton's best achievement here. On balance, however, this fantasy is flattened by the overburdened plot. A concluding hint that there are more adventures ahead for Natalie and Denny isn't likely to excite many. Ages 8-12. (July)