Beetle Boy

M. G. Leonard's Beetle Boy is a funny, creepy-crawly mystery for 10 year olds about a boy whose dad vanished from a locked room.

What happens

Darkus Cuttle's dad is the Director of Science at the Natural History Museum. One Tuesday he goes down to the vaults, locks himself into a room with no windows and no other door, and disappears. When the police break the door down, all that's left is a cold cup of coffee.

The newspapers go wild. Is he dead? Did he run away? Darkus knows his dad would never leave him. He just can't prove it.

So he goes to live with Uncle Max, an archaeologist who wears a safari hat indoors and keeps the teeth of an Egyptian queen in a box. Darkus sleeps in a hammock slung over the filing cabinets (how brilliant is that?). He starts at a grotty new school where the bullies have already decided he's a loser.

Then next door's neighbours have a huge fight in the middle of the road. They're two very grubby cousins called Humphrey and Pickering, and they're arguing about whether their shop should sell pies or antiques. In the middle of all the shouting, a beetle the size of a hamster drops out of Humphrey's trouser leg.

It walks straight up to Darkus. It climbs onto his shoulder like a pirate's parrot. And when the bullies corner him outside his uncle's flat, it flies at them hissing like a cobra! Darkus names it Baxter, after the squashed soup box at his feet.

Baxter is the star, and he's GREAT. He seems to understand every word Darkus says, and he's got a proper personality for an insect.

The friends are lovely too. Virginia wears her hair in eight pigtails and can beat any boy in the school in a fight. Bertolt is tiny, polite and builds inventions that throw fire. They believe Darkus straight away, and it's the first time anyone has.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

There's sadness under the jokes. Darkus's mum died when he was seven, and his dad spent years afterwards on what Darkus calls "blue days", lying in bed unable to speak. Darkus gets punched and nearly kicked by the bullies, and there's a bit of swearing. For a reader who loves animals, mysteries and a pair of neighbours you'll love to boo, there's plenty to cheer about.

What to read next

If they'd like another child facing a baffling mystery in their own family, try The Ice Children, also by M. G. Leonard. Bianca's little brother Finn is found frozen solid in the city rose garden, his heart still beating, and she can't stop wondering whether it's her fault.