Believing that the grooglemen have taken Leezie the weller, her young student Dan Henchard accompanies the strange hunter, Joshua, on a quest to rescue her. By the authors of Knight's Wyrd.
Debra Doyle has a doctorate in English literature. Together, she and James Macdonald have written numerous sf/f books. They live in Colebrook, New Hampshire.
This was pretty good. It is an expansion of a story, Uncle Joshua & the Grooglemen, originally published in Bruce Coville's Book of Monsters. Both are good, but I feel like I sort of hamstrung my enjoyment of this novella by reading the short story. Putting that aside, this book succeeds in good world building. It doesn't hold your hand, it gives you just enough to keep on learning more, and the main character is easy to identify with. All in all, solid storytelling. If you read the short story it might hinder your enjoyment of this. I wish I had found this book as a kid. It would have immediately shot up to a favorite. So, since it IS a children's book (and deeper than most of its era), mission accomplished!
The Groogleman was the perfect little story for a summer afternoon. I enjoyed this expanded version of a short story I had read in a compilation (Bruce Coville’s Book of Monsters). I loved the characters, the atmosphere, the perfect amount of suspense and of course the twist at the end. I was left wanting more...
Read a number of years ago (about 1998; as an adult) - I found this children's/YA novel gripping and original. I have since come to 'doubt' of its existence as I have searched libraries again for the title and not found it. (You begin to doubt you have the title correct at all...Groogleman? Grooglemen? Googlemen, Gogglemen etc?) Pleased to find the book on GoodReads and know that I didn't imagine it!
This book starts out like historical fiction, and each chapter heading is a clue to just how manipulated the people are. Only the Grooglemen can tell you the truth. A satisfying, compelling read.