The Dreadful Fate of Jonathan York

August 17, 2015
Originally published online as “No Story, No Room,” Merritt’s print debut follows the misadventures of a meek store clerk named Jonathan York, whose life takes a turn for the worse—or does it?—when he gets lost in a forbidding swamp. Along with three strange travelers, Jonathan finds his way to the Cankerbury Inn, whose elderly owners demand a story in exchange for a night’s stay. While Jonathan’s companions share accounts of diabolical ice-cream factories, daredevil undersea escapades, and alien abduction/vivisection, Jonathan’s dull life leaves him without anything to contribute. All that changes when he is tossed back into the swamp, falls in with merciless thieves, outwits a giant terrapin, and more. Terrifying and skillfully drafted, Merritt’s illustrations conjure a world of hideous creatures replete with tentacles, saberlike fangs, and leering eyes. References to Sean Connery and Willy Wonka sit a bit oddly in the Lovecraftian gothic world Merritt has created, and underneath all the supernatural horror, the message that what doesn’t kill, digest, or zombify you makes you stronger (and gives you a story to tell) is actually quite conventional. Ages 8–12.

November 1, 2015

Gr 4-7-Jonathan York, the drab, anxious protagonist of this unusual fairy tale, has taken a shortcut through a menacing swamp and is now lost. He meets a group of travelers who invite him to find refuge in a secluded inn that is run by an unusual elderly couple. The innkeepers will allow the group to stay for a price-not money, but rather a story of adventure to help remind them of their younger days. One by one the travelers recall colorful tales that are presented in rich, descriptive detail and accompanied by quirky illustrations done in subdued tones. The stories are full of dark humor and nonsensical words that call to mind Roald Dahl (is that an Oompa Loompa chained in a dungeon?!). Retelling an exciting escapade is no easy task for York, as he has lived a purposefully uneventful and risk-free life. With no tale to offer, he is sent back into the eerie night. After an odd little man offers a suggestion for where he might spend the night, York falls into the lair of a motley assortment of thieves and is coerced into assisting the gang on a highly dangerous treasure hunt. Being forced to participate in such treacherous quests has unexpected results: the once-meek York begins to feel exhilarated and to embrace his adventurous side. York concludes with the moral of the story: sometimes you have to take risks to keep from being a person with No Story. VERDICT With fantastical Tim Burton-esque creatures and rich language, this tale will appeal to a wide audience (including adults).-Sherry J. Mills, Hazelwood East High School, St. Louis, MO

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2015
A night in the swamp converts a mild-mannered clerk into a wily yarn spinner in this hair-raising tribute to the life-changing power of stories. In his debut, Merritt shows both a knack for evocative phrasing-"evening shadows had sidled in like predators seeking out the sick animals in a herd"-and a deft hand at crafting flamboyantly icky monsters in creepy settings. He sends his nerdy-looking protagonist into the murky gloom of Halfrock Swamp, where the price for a room at the only shelter, rickety Cankerbury Inn, is a story. A story? Jonathan York has none to tell. None, that is, until he's cast out into the night and into the clutches of the extraordinarily toothy West Bleekport Gang, then swallowed by the dreaded Bogglemyre (to be ejected "with one great phlegm-rattling belch...like a human loogie"). Proving increasingly quick both of wit and feet, he escapes the terror-scenting Fear'im Gnott and numerous other hazards on the way back to the inn and, one yarn later, a well-earned night's sleep. "Time will take many things from you," the innkeeper declares, but "you'll always have your story." The atmospheric drawings not only offer an array of luxuriantly grotesque swamp residents to ogle, but sometimes even take over for the legibly hand-lettered narrative by expanding into wordless sequences and side tales. Poor Jonathan York, condemned to newfound self-confidence and awed listeners wherever he goes. (Graphic fantasy. 11-14)

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December 15, 2015
Grades 8-11 Jonathan York has found himself alone in a strange wood that gets stranger as the sun sets. He thankfully runs into a group of travelers seeking rest at an inn, but in order to get a room, each traveler must pay the innkeeper with a story. In Chaucerian manner, each guest rattles off a comically dark tale. Unable to produce a story of his own, Jonathan is kicked out and must fend for himself in the forestcleverly shifting the story to a fractured fairy tale. Merritt's artwork is spot-on and, in a style reminiscent of Gris Grimly, paints this dismal but silly world with exaggerated monster features and gothic set pieces. He easily rides the fine line between morbid and ridiculous; in one instance, showing an ice-cream maker filled with dogs being made into a delicious desert by a handful of cheery monsters. Merritt has made a sweet Tim Burtonstyle book with a lot of heart . . . when it's not too busy trying to rip it out of your chest.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)