Fork-Tongue Charmers: The Luck Uglies, Book 2

The title characters are a band of outlaws who've mutilated their tongues by splitting them down the middle. The monsters known as the Bog Noblins are back, along with a number of other villains from the first volume, whose cruelty takes many forms: For example, Rye sees a woman forced to wear a grotesque metal mask in public because she spoke against the evil Earl, who also wants to arrest Rye's whole family. An event in the past, when the Earl heard about Folly's brothers being born conjoined twins and tried to take them away, probably to kill them, still stirs passions in the village 20 years later. There are scary moments galore, from brawls, swordplay, shipwrecks, and dark tunnels to villains (often wearing creepy masks) appearing at the worst possible moment. Kid characters are kidnapped, robbed by bandits, imprisoned on desert islands, and forced to reveal information that endangers their loved ones. An epic battle between villagers, soldiers, and Bog Noblins leaves the fate of several beloved characters in doubt. On a lighter note, characters eat a lot of gross food, from calf's-head soup (eyes and all) to raw sea urchins.

A married adult character is pregnant. In peaceful moments, Rye's long-parted parents banter flirtatiously. Now-adult characters recall when they were young and ran off with their lovers.

Rye's favorite expletive is "pigshanks." There's a bit of bathroom humor, mostly involving animal and monster poop in inconvenient places. In the glossary, a group of characters is described as so dimwitted that they "tinkle in their own boots to keep their feet warm."

As in The Luck Uglies, some of the action takes place in the disreputable tavern owned by Folly's parents, in which adults drink alcohol. In one scene, an adult character spits liquor on the sails to start a fire on an attacking ship.

Parents need to know that Fork-Tongue Charmers, the second installment in the Luck Uglies series, features a world in which most of the positive characters are outlaws, the law is in the hands of evildoers, and magic is afoot. As the tween heroes make new discoveries about long-held secrets, they face many dangers: false allies; vicious monsters; well-armed soldiers; magic gone wrong; and whatever's lurking around the next corner of that dark tunnel. There are scary moments, some violence -- brawls, swordplay, shipwrecks, and kid characters kidnapped, robbed by bandits, and imprisoned on desert islands -- and age-appropriate versions of serious themes, such as the government trying to take children who are "different" away from their families to imprison or kill them and how the families keep their kids safe. Several beloved characters appear to perish in clashes with evildoers. But there also are plenty of sweet, poignant moments and lots of laughs (for example, Rye's struggles with "skunk foot" and Folly's potion that makes Rye's feet glow in the dark). Strong family values come through in a family with a deep disrespect for authority but a clear moral compass.