Smudge's Mark

From the Back Cover
With a shaky hand, I laid the brass key on the paper, flat side down, and slid it over top of the sketch. It fit the shape exactly. Then the line circling the key uncurled and reformed itself into two words: FIND IT.

Simon is a fourteen-year-old Orphan with No Options: an O.W.N.O. And "oh no" pretty much sums up his life. He's stuck in Grimstown with his prank-pulling grampa and a housekeeper-slash-nanny from you-know-where. Worse, Simon can't remember a thing about his childhood. Then one night a bizarre dream unlocks some of those forgotten memories, leaving Simon with half of a key in his pajama pocket and a growing awareness that he's in the middle of a dangerous plot that threatens to destroy Emogen, a hidden realm connected to Earth. In order to save Emogen - and his best friend - from a deadly curse, Simon needs to find out who he really is. But can he discover his true identity before it's too late? (added by author)

From School Library Journal
Grade 5–9—Fourteen-year-old Simon Mugford has a problem. Afflicted with a peculiar form of amnesia, he awakens each morning not remembering anything of his past, including what happened the previous day. But when his grandfather's creepy housekeeper enrolls him in the Grimstown Academy of Orphans, amnesia is the least of his worries. Simon and his two sidekicks careen from one misadventure to another with barely a moment to catch their breaths as they battle a wicked headmaster, venomous snakes, creeping vines, and a stone dragon. Unfortunately, a meandering plot, minor characters that are plucked from thin air only to disappear a few pages later, and the author's asides ("He used words that I can't possibly repeat without giving this chapter an R-rating.") are more than a little annoying. However, there is something about the story that draws readers in. Perhaps it is the pluckiness of the boy-hero, perhaps the magical elements beginning with Simon's mysterious past and his quest through the fantastical world of Emogen. Though it is unlikely that Osmond has created the next Harry Potter-like phenomenon, she may appeal to kids who have become addicted to fantasy and magic thanks to J. K. Rowling.—Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AK
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