Solomon Macaroni and the Cousin Catastrophe by Ashleigh Barton illustrated by Sarah Davis

Solomon is an only child. He is, perhaps, slightly eccentric. Solomon is, however, a smart boy. He likes things to be clean and tidy and he enjoys vegetarian cooking. His life is a happy one with his mum and dad until the day his vampire parents announce they are off on a world cruise - not for a couple of weeks but for one hundred years. You have probably guessed from the cover and realise Solomon is a vampire but he is certainly a very unconventional one. 

Solomon cannot stay home alone so he is sent to stay with his Uncle and cousins. He packs his perfectly ironed cape, his Power-Steam Iron 450 and his pack of jumbo sized Wipe-off-anything Wipes.  His uncle Dracula tries to be kind but the cousins are simply dreadful - well five of them are dreadful. Only cousin Lucy treats Solomon with kindness.

As the story opens Solomon is invited by his cousins to come to their beach. This beach is part of their enormous mansion in Transylvania. Solomon is not to keen on swimming but he is cajoled into joining his twin cousins. The three of them swim out into the 'ocean' when a huge shark appears. The shark attacks Maude and Claudette and there is blood everywhere. Oh no - I gasped when I realised that this was just one of many practical jokes by the unkind cousins. 

Oddly, though, there is a sadness in this family. Their precious mother has died and their father won't talk about her. 

Publisher blurb: You’ve never met a vampire like Solomon Macaroni before – he’s friendly, polite and makes a mean tofu Bolognese. Understandably, when his parents go on a one-hundred-year cruise without him, Solomon is not impressed. Especially because it means having to stay in creepy Transylvania with his six cousins, who are the rudest and naughtiest vampires in existence. (Well, apart from Lucy. He likes her.) Not even his uncle, Count Dracula, the oldest vampire in the world, can stop their pranks. Solomon wishes he could spend the next hundred years alone at his own house with his spider friend, Fred, instead. But when his cousins venture into the spooky Wildwood on a dangerous mission, Solomon – against his better judgement – agrees to help Lucy rescue them. At least, that's what he thinks he's doing. In the forest, Solomon must draw on all he knows – about old magic, wet wipes and the importance of a well-timed entrance – to save his catastrophic cousins and possibly the world.

This book will be published in July, 2022.  Thanks to Beachside Bookshop for my advance reader copy. This is a longer book (my copy had 280 pages of fairly small print) so it does need some reading stamina. Also thanks to University of Queensland Press for sending a review copy. 

I enjoyed:

• Meeting Solomon and his spider friend Fred
• The descriptions of the amazing mansion designed by Uncle Dracula
• The tone shift when Solomon and Lucy enter the Wildwood
• The kindness of Uncle Dracula and his wacky inventions

Young readers are sure to enjoy the practical jokes by the awful cousins and the tension in the final chapters. 

Here is Ashleigh Barton's web site where you can see her previous picture books. Companion read to pair with Solomon Macaroni and the cousin catastrophe:

Solomon reminded me of Arthur in One Night at Lottie House (for younger readers) and Charles in No place for Grubbs (Aussie Bites also for younger readers).