Lady Friday

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Friday is here! The race is on to find the secret of the Middle House. The fifth eagerly awaited installment in Garth Nix's best selling fantasy series,The Keys to the Kingdom.

Arthur Penhaligon's adventures in the House get ever more perilous as the week unfolds. On the fifth day, there was fear...

Four of the seven Trustees have been defeated and their Keys taken, but for Arthur, the week is still getting worse. Suzy Blue and Fred Initial Numbers Gold have been captured by the Piper, and his New Nithling army still controls most of the Great Maze. Superior Saturday is causing trouble wherever she can, including turning off all the elevators in the House and blocking the Front Door.

Arthur can't even find out what is happening back home. All he knows is that Leaf isn't on earth any more. She's missing and so are hundreds of other people who were transferred from regular hospitals to a private institution run by a 'Doctor Friday'. From there they have been taken somewhere else in the Secondary Realms, for Lady Friday's own horrible purposes.

Amid all this trouble, Arthur's mother is also missing, and he must weigh up an offer from Lady Friday that is either a cunning trap for the Rightful Heir or a golden opportunity he must seize - before Superior Saturday or the Piper beats him to it.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

Gr 6-9-Arthur Penhaligon, "Lord Arthur, Rightful Heir to the Architect, Commander of the Army of the Architect, and a whole lot of other stuff," continues his quest to defeat the fifth of seven trustees and collect another precious key in the fifth title (Scholastic, 2007) of Garth Nix's series. Arthur's week continues to worsen. Superior Saturday has turned off the elevators. The Front Door is locked to prevent escape. Leaf has been captured in an attempt to bait Arthur into a trap. Lady Friday has challenged Arthur, the Piper, and Superior Saturday to find the Fifth Key and take command over the Middle House. Meanwhile, Lady Friday's addiction to "experiencing" mortal memories is out of control, and Arthur is determined to stop her. The action-packed plot is complex and a quick review of the first four books is highly recommended. However, those new to the series will pick up the main plot while enjoying the distinctive and delightful voices of each character narrated by Allan Corduner. Reluctant readers will appreciate the vivid pictures Nix continues to concoct for his fans.-Lisa Lea Hardey, Library Media Teacher, Sprague High School, Salem, OR (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.