Monthly Archives: April 2020



CHLOE ZOU

The picture takes place in the Porcelain Pagoda, and more accurately in Miss Bianca’s bed with its pink silk sheets. She is worrying over her plan of rescuing Mandrake, which is the reason she is sitting up with a look of worry on her face, with her sheets crumpling down to the ground, to which she is taking no notice.

The Turret is the third book in the Rescuers series, but it is a little different than the two books before it. For one thing, this time the prisoner, unfortunately, is not innocent: in fact he is far from innocent. Also, Miss Bianca is acting by herself, unlike before, when she always acted with the Prisoners Aid Society. And to make it worse, she is not supported by anyone, including her very close friend Bernard.  Although she does get help from the Boy Scouts who are very eager, even they do not know her full plan (at least in the beginning), so it is impossible to say that the Boy Scouts really do support her. This book kind of twists everything up a little bit. But it is still based around the same idea (rescuing a prisoner) even if this prisoner might not deserve to be rescued.

Even though Miss Bianca is kind of on her own island where only the Boy Scouts help her (and they don’t know the whole plan either) she has that determination to do it and doesn’t give up. All the other mice are against her, including Bernard, who means the most to her out of all mice. Though I think that if Bernard was on her side, it wouldn’t really matter what all the other mice think. Unfortunately right now Bernard is against her, so maybe a little part of her still hurts to think that her very close friend is not on her side. All the other mice think that “setting Mandrake at liberty would be to loose a monster on the world.”

Despite what they think, she thinks differently; she believes that there is a chance for Mandrake to reform if she rescues him from the Turret, which is what makes her keep going. Before, in the previous two books, you only get a glimpse at her determined personality, but now you can see it really coming through, when her drive is what makes her continue her plan to rescue Mandrake, because if she didn’t believe Mandrake had the chance to reform in the first place, I doubt she would have kept going, or even started at all. Not everything that happens is all serious and about her determination.

It is quite funny when she asks Bernard,  “Do you perform easy rhythmic movements too, Bernard?” and he then replies with a growl, “No, I don’t.” Miss Bianca is definitely a unique mouse, and not just in the way she looks (with her white ermine fur and her sparkling silver chain), but her determined personality. But even with her great personality she is stumped about how to rescue Mandrake from the Turret – it only has one small barred window, and a staircase guarded by George and Jack. Fortunately Shuan, the Boy Scouts leader, already has a plan in the works, and Miss Bianca’s plan to rescue Mandrake is hatched. But what I think is most exciting is the sudden change near the end of the book, having to do with romance, keeping you in suspense. Margery Sharp is able to include romance, while still making this series a delightful read for children, and it is not the type that is too sappy and makes children want to throw it in the trash. In fact I think the romance adds a nice second plot that is quite enjoyable to read.