Smudge's Mark - Claudia Osmond

Publisher:  Simply Read, 2010

Pages:  384

Source:  ARC from publisher

From Back Cover:

WITH A SHAKY HAND, I LAID THE BRASS KEY ON THE PAPER, FLAT SIDE DOWN, AND SLID IT OVER TOP OF THE SKETCH.  IT FIT THE SHAPE EXACTLY.  THEN THE LINE CIRCLING THE KEY UNCURLED AND EFORMED ITSELF INTO TWO WORDS:  FIND IT.

Simon is a fourteen-year-old Orphan with No Options:  and O.W.N.O. “Oh No” pretty much sums up his life.  He’s stuck in Grimstown with his prank pulling grampa and a housekeeper-slash-nanny- from you-know-where.  Worse, Simon can’t remember a thing about his childhood.  The one night a bizarre dream unlocks some of those forgotten memories, leaving Simon with half of a key in his pajama pocket and growing awareness that he’s in the middle of a dangerous plot that threatens to destroy Emogen, a hidden realm connected to Earth.  In order to save Emogen – and his best friend – from a deadly curse, Simon needs to find out who he really is.  But can he discover his true identity before it’s too late?

My Review

I loved this book.  There were so many twists and turns in this book.  Simon lives in Grimstown.  This town is properly named.  He is fourteen and considered an Orphan.  His parents are dead and he lives with his grandfather.  He can’t remember anything beyond the previous seven months.  His grandfather has told him it is because of an accident he had.  His grandfather keeps trying to give him a terrible tasting root that he says will help him regain his memory but Simon keeps throwing it away.  He also gives him a sketch pad and tells him to draw whatever pops into his head.  The day before his birthday he gives him a twencil and tells him to circle his drawings with them and it will help him remember.  He has an extremely weird dream and awakes to find a note given to him by the nanny-slash-housekeeper supposedly from his grandfather telling him to get lost and  sending him to an Academy.  This is where his adventures begin.  He meets Tessa the bossy girl who claims her rich father pays to have her at the academy, and tries everything to make his life miserable. He rooms with Gil the stuttering boy who lacks confidence yet curiously follows him around.  Gil is the one who gives Simon the nickname of “Smudge” because Simon constantly has pencil smudges on his face.  The

 headmaster, known as “the rat”, seems to have it in for Smudge.  He is constantly sniffing Simon and has learned not to touch him as he gets a terrible shock. 

When Gil, Smudge and eventually Tess end up in Emogen, they learn that everything they have known in the past is not what really is.  This was a simple and fast read.  I read it in about two and a half hours.  I just kept turning page after page until I found myself at the end.  The author did an excellent job of keeping the twists and turns coming and even set the end up for a sequel.  I am looking forward to reading it.