The Death Defying Pepper Roux

Oxford University Press

Click here to hear Geraldine talking about Pepper Roux and snatch a sneak
preview of the first chapter.

McCaughrean has proven to be a remarkably versatile writer, from her Printz Award-winning White Darkness (2008) to Peter Pan in Scarlet (2006). Her latest imagines a young boy who, in unspecified mid-twentieth Century France, is told by his spiteful aunt that he'll be dead by fourteen. So, hoping to outrun fate, Pepper Roux flees his unhappy home and embarks on a series of plucky misadventures in which he becomes, among other things, the captain of a ship, a deli-meat-slicing would-be Cupid, a fact-shrugging journalist, and a reluctant Legionnaire. Nearly every episode ends with Pepper scampering away not only from the death he thinks is nipping at his heels, but also all manner of incensed people, culminating in a hectic free-for-all that ties everything together in one charming, messy bow. McCaughrean's exuberant prose and whirling humor animate an unforgettable cast of characters, from the good-hearted Pepper, who lies and impersonates without the barest inkling of consequence, to the cross-dressing steward who trails along in Pepper's chaotic wake like a clumsy guardian angel. The whole is a more whimsical, French cousin to Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book (2008), with a similar sort of timelessly classic feel that emphasizes the value of finding family, but never at the expense of storytelling that delights in its own joyful sense of improbability.

Ian Chipman BOOKLIST 11.1.09

Kindhearted Pepper Roux has been led to believe that “[c]hildhood was a mouse trap from which he could never expect to escape,” his death by age 14 foretold in a dream. His maiden Aunt Mireille takes it upon herself to pave Pepper's path to heaven with daily prayer, constant confession, and rote memorization of last rites. So when Pepper awakens on his 14th birthday still alive, he launches himself on a sea voyage, intent on outrunning death. Mistaken for the ship's captain (his father), he is befriended by a compassionate, cross-dressing steward, Duchesse. Creating vivid characters is just one of McCaughrean's (The White Darkness) gifts—Aunt Mireille joins Dahl's Spiker and Sponge as one of the Most Evil Aunts in children's literature. Pepper flees across the French countryside from one disastrous job to another—delivery boy, horse wrangler, deli clerk, and even journalist, which allows McCaughrean to wink at readers as Pepper complains, “Copy editors cannot read anything without changing it.” As his journey ends in a cleverly orchestrated climax, readers will root for Pepper to get the ending he deserves—a happy one. Ages 10–up.

KIRKUS REVIEW 12.15.09

Poor Pepper Roux (his nickname “le pauvre,” or “pitiful one,” was confused at school with “poivre,” French for “pepper”) has been waiting for death for as long as he can remember. According to his malevolent Aunt Mireille, Saint Constance had foretold he’d die by age 14, and due to his rather awful family’s quotidian reminders of this, “The days clattered down like rows of dominoes.” When he finds himself still alive on his 14th birthday, Pepper escapes, and the string of adventures and grim-reaper–dodging identity shifts that follows (from sea captain to telegram boy) comprise this laugh-out-loud funny, picaresque adventure set in early-20th-century France. British novelist McCaughrean’s frequently over-the-top metaphors mirror the delightfully implausible plot—a slapstick story salted with colorful characters both cruel and kind, anchored in the emotional reality of a painfully naïve boy who gets quite a bit wiser. The refrain—“Well, people see what they expect to see. Or do they see what they want?”—sits at the heart of this poignant, odd, wonderfully composed and vastly entertaining novel. (Ages. 12 & up)

KIRKUS REVIEW 12.15.09

Gr 6-9–A charming tale about Pepper Roux, whose jealous and cruel Aunt Mireille foretells, at his birth, his death at age 14. A devout Catholic, she insists that he learn Last Rites rather than nursery rhymes. When his 14th birthday arrives, Pepper runs away to sea in an attempt to stay a step ahead of death. He steps into many different lives, largely because, as the author repeatedly points out, people see what they expect to see. Pepper becomes the captain of a coffin ship, has a brief career as a journalist who will only write good news, and joins the Foreign Legion (until he realizes that he’ll have to kill people). Each role is an adventure that leaves chaos in its wake and good-hearted Pepper one step ahead of getting caught. The story is set in France and has a 1930-ish feel. While the episodic plot may not be its strongest draw, the memorable characters and lyrical prose make the novel hard to put down. Pepper, in all his endearing innocence and goodness, will capture readers’ hearts, and Duchesse, the cross-dressing steward, may be the most hilarious yet wise character in children’s literature this decade. McCaughrean tackles big issues here: families, faith, loss, jealousy, and the expectations of others. The question with this book may be one of audience: Will kids understand its subtleties and some of the references, particularly the religious and political ones? But in the hands of the right child, this novel will be savored.–

Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL 12.16.09

McCaughrean’s most recent yarn, ostensibly set in early-twentieth-century France, is a wildly improbable but thoroughly entertaining one. Pepper Roux’s aunt, devoutly Catholic and deeply fatalistic, has predicted that he will not live past his fourteenth birthday. When the dreaded day arrives and Pepper finds himself very much alive, he embarks on a madcap adventure in an effort to cheat death, but one thing leads to another and he slips in and out of various personas—ship’s captain, horse rustler, newspaper columnist, telegram delivery boy, and French Legionnaire—before confronting his fate and finding his place in the world. It’s McCaughrean’s way with language (Pepper’s mother and aunt “leaned in against [his] childhood like a pair of bookends—big, ponderous women, and so full of tragedy that they could barely hook their corsets closed”), not to mention her thematic ruminations (“Well, people see what they expect. Don’t they? Or do they see what they choose?”), that establish this picaresque tale as the latest evidence that she is one of the more remarkable novelists writing for children today.

jonathan hunt THE HORN BOOK 12.17.09