Un-Lun-Dun

This is a fantastic book! It is written by China Mielville (not sure on the last name). It's like an Alice in Wonderland story where things are not as they seem. Hence the name. It's London...but Un. I had a hard time getting into at first, I kept thinking "when is this going to get to the point?!?" And then when it finally got to the story, I was hooked! I Loved the main character. At book club we talked about the author and why he wrote some of the things he did. He said that he hated certain books when he was younger because the "Hero" of the book was stupid and ordinary the "sidekicks" or friends he had with him did all the work and made him who he was. I agree!! I have a real hard time with Frodo in LOTR. He was a whiney baby, weak, and did absolutely nothing but get a lot of people killed. If it hadn't of been for Sam that ring would have never been destroyed!
Anyway, there are a lot of things in this book and it's definitely worth reading and rereading because I think it's like Harry Potter in that you will discover new things that you didn't catch the first time. Basically the story is this, there are two girls one a blond the other a brunette. I can't remember the blonde's name so we'll call her Kat for now and the brunette's name is Deeba. Strange things keep happening to Kat and Deeba notices them too. They get lost through a secret passageway that they stumble across while chasing a suspicious umbrella. They end up in Un-Lun-Dun and everybody thinks that Kat is the "Chosen One" or the "Schwazzy" come to save the people from Smog.Well, things don't turn out how they were supposed to and Deeba complains about home and so she helps her friend get home. But the more Deeba thinks about it, the more things start getting a little confusing and making sense all at the same time. She realizes that the people in Un-Lun-Dun are in serious trouble because the very thing they've been given as protection is actually the very thing that will kill them. She knows that she has to go back and save them. And that's where the adventure kicks in! With the aid of a Tailor, a Half-Ghost boy, a Bird cage head guy, A Conductor, a few careless words, an unlikely weapon and a Deep Diver guy, among many others, Deeba goes back to Un-Lun-Dun to uncover the truth. Read it you will love it! Oh, but a word of caution: Watch out for the giraffes!