Mallory, Mallory: Trick or Treat
James Norcliffe
Penguin NZ
Pub. 2021

February 23, 2022

Mallory, Mallory: Trick or Treat by James Norcliffe is a fun book about two young people, Mallory and Arthur.

The story begins on Halloween night. Mallory is about to leave for trick or treating, dressed as a witch in an overly large dressing gown and newspaper hat, but it’s way too late at night and she has to take someone with her. Lucky Arthur. They are out to get candy but everyone has run out, and Mallory has brought along a bag of tricks. Everyone who has run out either gets eggs, tomato ketchup, maple syrup, or flour over their porch. But when they reach her and her reluctant sidekick tangles with an old man in a spooky house, the trick is on them and they are transported a century back in time.

Mallory is an arrogant and cocky girl who wants everything to be her way and can goad anyone into knowing what she wants them to know or doing what she wants them to do. Mallory has the nerve to lie straight to everyone’s face without feeling even a tad guilty. She doesn’t like cats and when this mysterious black cat with golden eyes starts to follow them she isn’t hesitant to send it scurrying away. Mallory doesn’t have any friends, except maybe Arthur, and she calls him names all the time. She pokes her tongue out a lot and doesn’t care enough about other people.

Arthur is a shy and fearful boy who only sticks with Mallory because she doesn’t take no as an answer. He is smart and thinks before doing anything, though most of those things don’t happen as he gets frightened. He is kind and assesses the situation at hand. He is generous and grateful to those who have helped them. Arthur can piece things together with any bit of information he finds, while Mallory brushes it aside almost instantly.

There are challenges in this book which include: throwing an egg into a man’s house and hitting the TV, being sent back in time, Mallory kicking an important cat, Mallory falling from a tree, Arthur getting jammed in a pipe, a strange black cat with piercing golden eyes following them wherever they go, and more.

Mallory, Mallory Trick or Treat is written simply but effectively and describes the setting and characters adequately. From the start of the book, I could tell everything about Mallory and Arthur. I really enjoyed reading this because of the fun and trouble the two of them got into.

If James Norcliffe aimed to create an unbelievably surprising book, then he definitely achieved it. He has added twists and turns in every page and described the characters wonderfully. This book is awesome and I’m sure anyone who reads this will relish it.

Finally, I’d like to recommend this book to younger readers but to basically anyone that wishes to go trick or treating in the past.

• Sana Sharma is 12 and lives in Hamilton.