The Hobgoblin Proxy (Clemency Pogue) [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

JT Petty (Author), Will Davis (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Clemency Pogue

If you're looking for a quest, help me find the changeling, destroy it, and save the Make-Believe and this halfling's sanity.

As a baby, Kenneth Mess was stolen from his cradle and replaced with a clay replica. Now he is being raised underground by Clemency Pogue's hobgoblin friend Chaphesmeeso, so that he will eventually become a hobgoblin himself. But that can't happen until the clay baby dissolves. And that won't happen, since Inky, the changeling, rarely washes. Which means that the world of Make-Believe is in serious danger.

Once again, an adventure is underfoot for Clemency Pogue as she tries to make the world safe for Make-Believe.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6–In this sequel to Clemency Pogue: Fairy Killer (S & S, 2005), the young human is asked by her friend and hobgoblin, Chaphesmeeso, for help on a quest–to find the changeling of a human boy, Kennethurchin. He was stolen as a baby by goblins and a clay-baby was put in his place, but instead of dissolving as these babies usually do, the infant kept developing, and could destroy both the world of Make-Believe and Kennethurchin (who is in training to become a hobgoblin). If this sounds complicated, imagine the addition of a pointless subplot involving a box of bobbed boxer-dogs' tails, a nasty Fairy of Long Goodnights, and a tale of sibling rivalry. The self-consciously glib language doesn't make this tale any more enjoyable or easy to understand. The size of the book is deceptively small and the cover is appealing, but younger kids will feel swamped by the convoluted prose and odd plot, and older readers would probably prefer Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series (Hyperion).–Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
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Review

"This sharp and witty second installment in Petty's series quickly and efficiently brings readers up to speed on Clemency's continuing role in saving the fantastical and vividly drawn world of Make-Believe."

-- Kirkus --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers (May 9, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416907688
• ISBN-13: 978-1416907688
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,574,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, raised in Cheverly (on the outskirts of Washington D.C.), tormented in Severna Park (on the outskirts of Annapolis) and then found a home on the inskirts of Brooklyn, NY. I make a living at storytelling in any medium anybody will hire me in.

Outside of books, I also write and direct scary movies (Soft for Digging, Mimic Sentinel) and write videogames (Splinter Cell, Pandora Tomorrow, Batman: Begins). If anybody claims I once fronted a country-western band, it's a groundless rumor.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A whole new world begins..., June 27, 2006

By 

S. Knisely - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Hobgoblin Proxy (Clemency Pogue) (Hardcover)

Wow! I feel like I'm in at the beginning of a whole new fantasy world! The first Clemency Pogue was so much fun (and witty and charming at the same time) I was really looking forward to the next one and it is FANTASTIC!

J.T. Petty starts explaining more about how Clemency's world of hobgoblins works and its funny, clever, and a bit startling! (I will never dock the tails of a litter of puppies again.)

This book (with the first one) is a great gift for 4th to 7th graders. It will let them know that you think that they're just as clever and witty and sophisticated as Clemency.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spellbinding Sequel, June 21, 2006

By 

Sarah V. Langan (Brooklyn, New York United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Hobgoblin Proxy (Clemency Pogue) (Hardcover)

This gleeful sequel picks up where JT Petty's first novel Clemency Pogue left off. In it Clemency's boxer puppy is sick. When she summons her old friend Chaphesmeeso in order to save her ailing dog, she learns that something is amiss in the world of make-believe. Instead of dissolving into clay, a changeling has survived its switch, and is living in the human world in the guise of a child. Meanwhile, a child goblin-proxy is barred from moving forward in his training in the world of make-believe. These two small things, it turns out, may signal the end of make-believe, and the grown-up world, too.

Like the brilliant "Empire Strikes Back", in "Hobgoblin Proxy" we learn more about the fantasy world set-up in the first installment, but enter the dark side, where Hobgoblins meet the truly terrible Goblins, and children disappear in the night, all due to a logic not yet comprehensible to the main character. It's a page turner.

What I like best about this book is the way that Petty is slowly maturing his heroine. The adult world in which parents are flawed and pets really do die intersects with Clemency's make-believe world. In a thoughtful and sensitive way, Petty's main character begins to learn how to rectify these two worlds, and help save both of them. It's a perfect fantasy full of goblins, humor, clever word play, and delightful characters.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious sequel- even better than the first one., June 9, 2006

By 

David Brunton "area man" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Hobgoblin Proxy (Clemency Pogue) (Hardcover)

I loved Clemency Pogue, Fairy Killer. I got an early copy, which was cool, except it meant I had to wait even longer for this sequel than everyone else did... well, it was worth the wait.

This book is for the kids at heart. My wife and I took our daughter to see the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and were unsurprised that there were as many people our age watching the movie as there were kids. This book is like that- perfect for kids, but still a lot of fun for grown ups.

Our daughter is still a little young for tween books, but we're reading it to her already, and she'll undoubtedly read it to herself by the time she's six or seven :-D