The Mountain of Dempsey Molehill by Julie Stroebel Barichello

The Mountain of Dempsey Molehill by Julie Stroebel Barichello
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Middle Grade (8 – 12 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Molehill starts with M. Mischief starts with Molehills. Dempsey Molehill and his siblings – practically-a-grownup Brom, responsible Tilly, pesky little brother Penn, and wild child Bandi – don’t mean to cause mischief. But somehow, they always find themselves smack dab in the middle of it. When Dempsey’s dad decides to run for mayor of Pickettstown, the five Molehill kids try to be on their best behavior. Unfortunately for Dempsey and his siblings, their “best behavior” includes luring bullies in muddy mayhem, casting Halloween curses, exploding appliances, and terrorizing classmates with Scrap the one-eared cat. Will their antics cost their dad the election? Or can the family band together to put the best Molehill foot forward? The Mountain of Dempsey Molehill is a humorous middle grade novel about life in rural Illinois, small-town politics, and growing up in a big, wild family.

There’s never a dull moment in a big family.

I liked the realistic approach to handling bullies and dealing with small town politics. Dempsey had been dealing with his bully for years, and he was just old enough to realize the sometimes more subtle ways adults can bully each other, too. Ms. Stroebel Barichello trusted her audience to make these connections and come up with our own conclusions about the downsides of living in a small town where some families are considered to be more important than other ones. That’s a complex topic that middle grade readers should have a chance to explore, and this is a great place to start.

There were a few times when I wished that Dempsey, his friends and his siblings had faced stricter consequences for their actions. While most of their hijinks were silly and harmless, there was an incident involving gunpowder being ignited that made me raise an eyebrow. This is something I’m saying as a reader who otherwise loved this tale, but that scene is a topic I’d want to have a frank discussion about with the elementary-school-aged kids in my life so that they’d know why the characters’ choices weren’t good ones.

There was a playful sense of humor in this book that made it just about impossible to put down. I couldn’t wait to see what sorts of mischief the Molehill children would get into next. From digging a pit in their backyard in the hopes of trapping any stray elephants that may be wandering around rural Illinois to kidnapping a pet rabbit, these kids were never short on wacky ideas to keep life interesting.

The Mountain of Dempsey Molehill was a wild ride.