Neglected by his guardians at the bottle cap factory and bullied by the other boys, Simon Favor spends his time in the boiler room, polishing a home-made vest fashioned out of discarded bottle caps and contemplating his grim future. But Simon’s fortune changes when Mr. Tinsworth, the factory owner, enrolls him at Grynnless Middle, a reformatory institution for wayward children. At Grynnless, Simon is thrust into a strange world full of social misfits and cruel professors, but when a young girl named Pepper materializes out of the shadows and invites Simon to audition for Spindlecrook, the school’s theater troupe, Simon takes a leap of faith. Both Pepper and Spindlecrook, however, are not what they appear to be, and Simon soon learns that he will need much more than his bottle cap armor to survive.
Once in the otherworldly town of Spindlecrook, Simon discovers that Pepper is one of several Collectors, expertly trained in the art of ‘human gathering.’ Simon has in fact been hand-picked by the sinister Tragetour, a shape-shifter whose mad passion for the theater has driven him to kidnap humans for his ultimate production—a performance that will end with Simon’s death in the leading role. Only after Simon discovers that Mr. Humdugeon, the towering black-cloaked theater professor, is one of the legendary veil rippers and controls passage between our world and Spindlecrook with an enchanted silver hand, can he hope to find a way back.
My Review - This book was good and it was free on my Nook. It's not my usual type of book but when I saw that it was free I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm glad I did. I loved the story line and I really think this would be great if it were made into a movie. It'd be something different from other movies. The story line was so easy to read and easy flowing. I loved the part with Grinder in it too! :) Yep, I think this book needs to be made into a movie!
