The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science

Written by Kate McKinnon

Narrated by Kate McKinnon and Emily Lynne

From beloved Saturday Night Live alum Kate McKinnon comes a madcap new adventure about three sisters, a ravenous worm, and a mysterious mad scientist.

So, you want to be a young mad scientist. Congratulations! Admitting it is the first step. The second step is reading the (definitely true) tale of the Porch sisters…
 
Gertrude, Eugenia, and Dee-Dee Porch do not belong. They don’t belong in the snooty town of Antiquarium, where all girls have to go to etiquette school and the only dog allowed is the bichon frise. They don’t belong with their adoptive family, where all their cousins are named Lavinia and their Aunt has more brooches than books. And they certainly don’t belong at Mrs. Wintermacher’s etiquette school—they’re far more interested in science. After getting kicked out of the last etiquette school that would take them, the girls expect to be sent away for good... until they receive a mysterious invitation to new school.
 
Suddenly the girls are under the tutelage of the infamous Millicent Quibb—a mad scientist with worms in her hair and oysters in her bathtub. At 231 Mysterium Way, the pizza is fatal, the bus is powered by Gerbils, and the Dean of Students is a hermit crab.  Dangerous? Yes! More fun than they’ve ever had? Absolutely! But when the sisters are asked to save their town from an evil cabal of nefarious mad scientists, they must learn to embrace what has always made them stand out, and determine what side they’re on—before it’s too late!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette Audio
• Release date: Oct 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9781668644003

Reviews for The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science

[villemezbrown · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

An almost passable imitation of all the children's book authors who are on the back cover blurbing this one, i.e., Trenton Lee Stewart, Maryrose Wood, etc.

Kate McKinnon is obviously aiming for a very wacky tone as some misfit foster sisters have to transfer to a new school (again) when their old one labels them as troublemakers. The new school claims to teach etiquette but is instead secretly run by a mad scientist, Millicent Quibb, who needs help stopping an evil plot conceived by even madder scientists.

It feels like every single sentence was given a rewrite to make it even wackier. I felt I was being whacked with wacky over and over until I became so groggy I simply surrendered to the prose.

The only actual joy I found in the book was imagining in my mind's eye how Kate McKinnon would act out the character she obvious intends to play in the inevitable movie adaptation. I settled on a slight variation on her Weird Barbie, just without all the leg splits. I'd probably see that film, but I doubt I'll read the next book in this series.