Review: Return to Ribblestrop

Return to Ribblestrop continues the confusion, weirdness, friendship, suspense and chaos that Andy Mulligan started in Ribblestrop. The series is about a strange boarding school– quite an understatement, really– established by a quixotic Dr. Giles Norcross-Webb with even stranger students in impossible situations. In Return, Mulligan adds several big cats and reptiles to the school.

Honestly, I do not know where to start with the summary (or the review even!) of the novel. With the amount of characters and each his (or her) own sub-plot, it is a dizzying tale. Try keeping mental images of the students: Sanchez, Millie (the first and only girl student of Ribblestrop High), Sam, Ruskin, Miles, Henry, a dozen or so orphans (sorry, I lost count); and several grownups, while following the plot twist and turn into oblivion and finally resolution. Plus the geography of the Ribblestrop – the towers, the tunnels, the lake and the hills – adds to the confusion. But, I believe the complicatedness and Mulligan’s masterful presentation of it are the major factors that make the book unique and enthralling.

The story starts slow: an ice breaker presenting the characters as they journey back to Ribblestrop for a new school term. Immediately, accidents happen: cars crash, fire in the motel and animals on the loose. Then, the term starts at Ribblestrop with a delayed Christmas-themed opening party, live specimens for science class, acrobatic and tightrope stunts for PE, a football game with the local High School as extra-curricular (and  there’s a new kid, too) and a break-in in the works (here's where the bad guys come in). With the school’s timetable never set in stone, classes and practices and parties go on day and night. Do they even sleep? We will never know.

The children are still self-sufficient as in the first book, now with their very own bank and home-made sweets shop that sells just about anything under the sun. They also still hold their parties with pastries made by Tomaz, one of the orphans, and alcohol. Yes, the children are below the legal age of 18, but drinking booze and smoking cigars are nothing compared to what's in store. (I'm trying my best not to give spoilers, I am.) There’s also the gun of the son of a gangster from South America that keeps on getting on the wrong hands. In the end, the students are still children: eager to learn, keen to keep friendships, and motivated to keep everyone safe. 

The grownups are equally bizarre. The headmaster Dr Norcross-Webb continues to let the students do as they please, believing that education is not just what they learn in their classrooms but through everything they do day in, day out. I admire such idealism, but then again, the practical in me cries out for limits and discipline. The bad guys from the first book are back as dangerous and greedy as ever and the total opposite of child-friendly. The two Cuthbertson, I believe, wants revenge from the events of the previous term. And their new team member, an irritating ex-priest with a pride and a belly that cannot possibly go bigger, becomes the self-proclaimed chaplain of the school whose fate in it I find a very haunting one.

All these– and more– are woven into one comedic, action-packed, thrilling, I-don’t-really-know-what-it-is-exactly story for kids and the kids at heart. Though I pray fervently that nobody ever try anything at home and keep the story as it is – that is, fiction.

Next stop: Ribblestrop Forever.