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1.27 mi | ASHBURN 20147
Returnable | Yes |
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Resolutions | Eligible for refund or replacement |
Return Window | 30 days from delivery |
Refund Timelines | Typically, an advance refund will be issued within 24 hours of a drop-off or pick-up. For returns that require physical verification, refund issuance may take up to 30 days after drop-off or pick up. Where an advance refund is issued, we will re-charge your payment method if we do not receive the correct item in original condition. See details here. |
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Return instructions
Item must be in original condition and packaging along with tag, accessories, manuals, and inserts. Unlock any electronic device, delete your account and remove all personal information. |
Returnable | Yes |
---|---|
Resolutions | Eligible for refund or replacement |
Return Window | 30 days from delivery |
Refund Timelines | Typically, an advance refund will be issued within 24 hours of a drop-off or pick-up. For returns that require physical verification, refund issuance may take up to 30 days after drop-off or pick up. Where an advance refund is issued, we will re-charge your payment method if we do not receive the correct item in original condition. See details here. |
Late fee | A late fee of 20% of the item price will apply if you complete the drop off or pick up after the ‘Return By Date’. |
Restocking fee | A restocking fee may apply if the item is not returned in original condition and original packaging, or is damaged or missing parts for reasons not due to Amazon or seller error. See details here. |
Return instructions
Item must be in original condition and packaging along with tag, accessories, manuals, and inserts. Unlock any electronic device, delete your account and remove all personal information. |
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Audible sample Sample
The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge Hardcover – Illustrated, September 25, 2018
Purchase options and add-ons
Uptight elfin historian Brangwain Spurge is on a mission: survive being catapulted across the mountains into goblin territory, deliver a priceless peace offering to their mysterious dark lord, and spy on the goblin kingdom — from which no elf has returned alive in more than a hundred years. Brangwain’s host, the goblin archivist Werfel, is delighted to show Brangwain around. They should be the best of friends, but a series of extraordinary double crosses, blunders, and cultural misunderstandings throws these two bumbling scholars into the middle of an international crisis that may spell death for them — and war for their nations. Witty mixed media illustrations show Brangwain’s furtive missives back to the elf kingdom, while Werfel’s determinedly unbiased narrative tells an entirely different story. A hilarious and biting social commentary that could only come from the likes of National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson and Newbery Honoree Eugene Yelchin, this tale is rife with thrilling action and visual humor . . . and a comic disparity that suggests the ultimate victor in a war is perhaps not who won the battles, but who gets to write the history.
- Reading age10 - 14 years
- Print length544 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade level5 - 9
- Lexile measure760L
- Dimensions6.44 x 1.5 x 8.56 inches
- PublisherCandlewick
- Publication dateSeptember 25, 2018
- ISBN-100763698229
- ISBN-13978-0763698225
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Get to know this book
What's it about?
An elf and goblin embark on a perilous journey, encountering double crosses, blunders, and cultural misunderstandings, leading to an international crisis and a hilarious, biting social commentary.Amazon editors say...
Put two award-winning authors together on a journey into fantasy and social satire and you get one heck of a delightful read.
Seira Wilson, Amazon Editor
From the Publisher
''One for the history books.'' — Booklist (starred review)
"The story by Anderson and Yelchin blends the absurd and the timely to explore commonality, long-standing conflict, and who gets to write a world’s history." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Splendid." —Kirkus Review (starred review)
“Anderson and Yelchin’s fable of goblins, elves, and the cultural brouhahas that put their respective nations on a war footing is accessible, darkly comic, and rewarding.” —Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked
Feed | Elf Dog and Owl Head | Landscape with Invisible Hand | The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge | |
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Customer Reviews |
4.2 out of 5 stars
2,489
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4.5 out of 5 stars
52
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4.1 out of 5 stars
234
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4.6 out of 5 stars
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Read more from the award-winning author M. T. Anderson! | A National Book Award finalist! Titus and his friends’ spring break is cut short when a hacker messes with their feeds, sending them to a hospital. There, Titus meets Violet, a girl who’s decided to fight the feed that’s implanted their heads. | A Newbery Honor Book! After a global plague brings Clay’s summer to a halt, he’s only too happy to retreat to the woods. There, he finds mysterious dog Elphinore among the trees and they go on an adventure that will change their lives forever. | A major motion picture! After aliens called the vuvv take over Earth, Adam’s parents lose their jobs. Now that they have no money for food, clean water, or the vuvv’s miraculous medicine, Adam has to get creative to survive. How far will he go? | A National Book Award finalist! Uptight elfin historian Brangwain Spurge is on a mission to spy on the goblin kingdom, but a series of extraordinary misunderstandings throws him and his host Werfel into the middle of an international crisis! |
Editorial Reviews
Review
—The New York Times Book Review
Anderson’s latest foray into middle-grade fantasy is executed with the all smarts and finesse his fans have come to expect. Joining him on this storytelling adventure is Yelchin...Yelchin’s black pen-and-ink illustrations, in Medieval style, capture the humor and fantastical details of the text, as well as Brangwain’s changing view of goblins. Biting and hysterical, Brangwain and Werfel’s adventure is one for the history books.
—Booklist (starred review)
Together, Anderson and Yelchin craft something that feels impossible, a successfully unorthodox epistolary, pictorial, and prose narrative that interrogates the cultural ramifications of unchallenged viewpoints and the government violence they abet even as it recounts the comedic blunderings of a spy mission gone wrong. Monty Python teams up with Maxwell Smart for a wrestling match with Tolkien—splendid.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
With the look and feel of medieval lithographs, they include touches of humor, whimsy, irony, and menace; as such, they are well suited to both the acerbic wit and the affecting tenderness of Anderson’s prose. The result is a fantasy that couldn’t feel more real, obliquely referencing a political climate marked by a lack of civility, underhanded diplomacy, fake news, widespread bigotry and prejudice, and the dehumanization of marginalized people.
—The Horn Book (starred review)
Told in narrative and illustrated pages—Werfel’s experiences and Spurge’s visual dispatches back home—the story by Anderson (Feed) and Yelchin (Arcady’s Goal) blends the absurd and the timely to explore commonality, long-standing conflict, and who gets to write a world’s history.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Sophisticated, witty and sharply political, the book tells of the elf Brangwain Spurge and the goblin Werfel, two scholars from feuding kingdoms who are swept into a maelstrom of espionage, deceit and prejudice.
—The Wall Street Journal
The satirical tone is reminiscent of Lemony Snicket’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” while the format is similar in concept to Brian Selznick’s work; Yelchin’s black-and-white ink drawings reveal the viewpoint of the visiting Elfin historian, contrasted with the text descriptions from Werfel’s viewpoint. A relevant...message on the importance of perspective and finding common ground. A good choice for most middle grade shelves.
—School Library Journal
This comic spy story addresses prejudice and cultural misunderstandings in a unique way, and could complement both historical and political discussions in the classroom.
—School Library Connection
A brilliant, satirical take on cultural chauvinism, objectivity and war and peace, The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge is witty, wise and wondrously unique.
—BookPage
[A] smart and smarting history with its consequential warning: Truthfully recall the past to change the future.
—San Francisco Chronicle
This beautifully crafted, thrilling fantasy entertains even as it offers a powerful lesson about national narratives, the power of myth and the difficulty of acknowledging "the other." A perfect novel for our times.
—Buffalo News
All I can say is that it’s a book for our time. An unreliable visual narrator. A Cold War, Middle Earth, buddy comedy. Art that looks like the lovechild of Hieronymus Bosch and Terry Gilliam. You know. One of those.
—A Fuse #8 Production (blog)
For me, however, the cream of this middle school crop is The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin. This masterly political satire in the form of a fantasy novel feels more relevant to our current political strife, two years into the Trump administration, than any book published this year.
—School Library Journal (blog)
This hilarious political satire details a thousand years of animosity between the elves and the goblins.
—People Magazine
Hidden among Yelchin's ornate illustrations, Clivers' posturing, Spurge's sneaking and Werfel's confusion is a surprisingly humorous tale of misunderstanding, betrayal, miscalculation—and the power of preconceived notions. As both nations hurtle toward a new chapter in diplomacy, Yelchin and Anderson offer a sly commentary on who really gets the last word in history.
—Virginian-Pilot
If Hieronymus Bosch and Terry Gilliam had a love child, it couldn't be more twisted and brilliant than the silent visual sequences you'll find on these pages.
—NPR Books
Snarky, clever, and brilliantly executed, this is my number-one favorite book of the year.
—The Booklist Reader
“Anderson and Yelchin’s fable of goblins, elves, and the cultural brouhahas that put their respective nations on a war footing is accessible, darkly comic, and rewarding.”
—Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked
“What a fun wild crazy smart gorgeous book! And oh! that art — insanely beautiful.”
—Jon Scieszka, first U.S. National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature
About the Author
Eugene Yelchin is a Russian-American author and illustrator of many books for children, including Breaking Stalin’s Nose, a Newbery Honor book; The Haunting of Falcon House, a Golden Kite Award winner; and The Rooster Prince of Breslov, a National Jewish Book Award winner. He has also received the SCBWI Tomie dePaola Award for illustration. He lives in Topanga, California.
Product details
- Publisher : Candlewick; Illustrated edition (September 25, 2018)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 544 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0763698229
- ISBN-13 : 978-0763698225
- Reading age : 10 - 14 years
- Lexile measure : 760L
- Grade level : 5 - 9
- Item Weight : 2 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.44 x 1.5 x 8.56 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #507,033 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #420 in Teen & Young Adult Fiction on Prejudice & Racism
- #566 in Teen & Young Adult Humorous Fiction
- #4,684 in Fiction Satire
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Eugene Yelchin is a Russian-American artist best known as an illustrator and writer of books for children and young adults. Yelchin is a National Book Award finalist for The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge co-authored with M. T. Anderson and the recipient of Newbery Honor for Breaking Stalin’s Nose. He received Golden Kite Award for The Haunting of Falcon House, Crystal Kite Award for illustrating Won Ton, National Jewish Book Award for illustrating The Rooster Prince of Breslov, and SCBWI Tomie DePaola Award. Visit him at eugeneyelchinbooks.com
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the illustrations really cool. They also describe the storyline as unique, enjoyable, wise, funny, and uplifting. Readers describe the content as extraordinary and wonderful, delivered subtly with good humor and drama.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the illustrations in the book cool, subtle, and sophisticated. They also say the story is boring.
"...It's the way it's told, through illustrations that beguile, narrative that at times seems at odds with the illustrations, and the epistolary format..." Read more
"...The composite illustrations are fabulous, and the story should appeal to adults and older kids, great for discussion about what propaganda,..." Read more
"...We all enjoyed it. The illustrations are cool too." Read more
"1. Fun Easy Read2. Some chapters written, others told via beautiful, highly detailed drawings.3. Elves and Goblins4...." Read more
Customers find the storyline enjoyable, remarkable, and rip-roaring fun for kids and adults. They also say the book is delivered subtly with good humor and drama.
"...in ways that might go over some kids' heads, but is still worth the experience. It's not simply the plot that makes this book great...." Read more
"...The composite illustrations are fabulous, and the story should appeal to adults and older kids, great for discussion about what propaganda,..." Read more
"This is an enjoyable, quick read (I just did the last 250 pages in one sitting) with deep significance and a lot to discuss...." Read more
"This book is a great ride. Fun to read and filled with sarcasm & spirit. Our 6th grader read it twice - the second time out loud to me...." Read more
Customers find the content extraordinary, clever, thought-provoking, and wonderful. They also say the book is great for discussions about propaganda, perception, and friendship.
"...What a great, fun adventure! It's clever in ways that might go over some kids' heads, but is still worth the experience...." Read more
"...the story should appeal to adults and older kids, great for discussion about what propaganda, perception and friendship mean...." Read more
"This is a funny and intriguing book with a very cool & different perspective while telling its story - which is the point! Loved the illustrations." Read more
"This is one unique and enjoyable fantastical story that every reader should indulge in reading. I loved it as did my 13 year old son." Read more
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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2. Some chapters written, others told via beautiful, highly detailed drawings.
3. Elves and Goblins
4. Story of finding common ground/working together/how similar we all are.
5. Funny
6. Friendships building theme
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2019
2. Some chapters written, others told via beautiful, highly detailed drawings.
3. Elves and Goblins
4. Story of finding common ground/working together/how similar we all are.
5. Funny
6. Friendships building theme
highly recommend ....
Top reviews from other countries
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 4, 2019