The Key to Rondo (review)

It's sensible Leo who inherits the intricately painted music box, but on the day his impetuous (and least favorite) second cousin Mimi comes to visit and breaks the rules governing the Langlander family heirloom, it's she who first gives a logical explanation of the strange events taking place in his room: "The music unlocks the gate of the music box world. Four turns are enough to make the gates swing open—wide enough to let things like the butterflies out. Five or six turns open it enough for—for anything." "Anything" turns out to be the tyrannical Blue Queen, who kidnaps Mimi's beloved dog and forces the two cousins to follow her back into Rondo, the fantastical world decorating the sides of the music box. It turns out that Leo and Mimi aren't the first of their family to visit Rondo, and while cautious Leo gets a crack at adventure and overlooked Mimi gets a shot at distinction, they both get a chance to right some family wrongs and prove that the Langlanders really are the stuff of legends. Rodda fills the cousins' quest with image-rich prose and compelling action; each chapter reveals a bit more about the history of Rondo, allowing attentive readers to hazard guesses along the way. Leo and Mimi are just two of a crew of likable characters, some of whom are possessed of intriguingly ambiguous motives, and the world of Rondo is an engagingly eclectic mix of fairy-tale figures and memorable new wonders, including hidey-holes, woodland Flitters, human-tiger Terlamaines, and impish gingerbread vermin known as "dots." This warm fantasy presents a fresh score of thwarting evil, strengthening family ties, and achieving personal growth, and questors who have recently returned from the wardrobe or Gardner's Into the Woods (BCCB 10/07) will be eager to turn the key and slip into the music box.