Customer Reviews

Ojo in Oz (Wonderful Oz Books, No 27)

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Until this, the 27th Oz book, I had decided that Thompson's best books were not as good as Baum's worst. This one brought her up into the same exalted real as L. Frank Baum himself. I stiil prefer all of the originals but this one is worthy in its own right.

The story is of the Munchkin boy, Ojo. He is kidnapped by gypsies and then kidnapped again by a band of robbers. All of this is done for the sake of a bounty on his head. In typical Oz fashion, he visits some new realms with stange inhabitants, makes some new friends and learns about himself. This is a good story.

The quality of this work runs agains the usual trends in Thompson's Oz books. Some of her other books are good but the good ones tend to concentrate on characters she created herself. Many of the Oz standards put in cameo appearances in those stories but, until now, the old standbys have had short shrift in her better stories. The ones in which she does concentrate on the Baum inheritance tend to be more tentative and it is almost as if she is uncomfortable working with them. That is not the case in this book.

Ojo and Unc Nunkie are characters from Baum's PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ. They are the focus of this story and, in this case, they become Thompson's own creations. They are well developed and fun to follow. Realbad is a new character but likewise shows good development as the bandit leader. Snufferbux the bear is also an original creation and is most enjoyable as an old curmudgeon and Ojo's friend.

I hope that the remaider of Thompson's corpus will prove as good as this one.

Like some of Ruth Plumly Thompson's other Oz books, this one is partially based on a mystery left behind by L. Frank Baum. In THE PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ, he mentions that Ojo's uncle (and presumably Ojo himself) is related to the ancient Kings of the Munchkins, but he never really does anything with this idea. Thompson, on the other hand, uses it as the basis for one of her most exciting stories, with Ojo caught up in a plot by one of the scariest villains in Oz. As the other reviewer said, this book a good deal of character development, mostly involving the bandit Realbad. This robber is torn between protecting his new-found friend Ojo, and trading the boy in for a huge reward. Realbad also has an interesting secret, which is revealed towards the end. There seems to be a greater sense of danger in this book than in many Oz books, with the characters up against two monsters, a band of unfortunately stereotypical gypsies, and several other threats. Most of these dangers are rather easily overcome, though, so I doubt the book would come across as scary. This book also gives us some history of the Munchkin Country of Oz. Overall, this is one of the best Oz books, and well worth reading to anyone who enjoys the series.

Not only is this book suspenseful and funny, it also features more detailed character development than is usual in the Oz books as Thompson develops the friendship between Ojo--whom we first met in Baum's "The Patchwork Girl of Oz"--and a bandit named Realbad. Recommended.