The Doldrums and the Helmsley Curse

By Nicholas Gannon

Archer B. Hemsley and friends are back and yearning for adventure in this second beautifully told, stunningly-illustrated story from author-illustrator Nicholas Gannon.

After two years, Archer B. Helmsley’s famous explorer grandparents are finally coming home. They had been missing – abandoned on an iceberg – and Archer and his best friends, Adélaïde L. Belmont and Oliver Grub led an adventurous mission to rescue them.

Archer is overjoyed by his grandparents’ return. However, he seems to be the only one . . . Rumours begin to surface that Archer’s grandparents weren’t abandoned after all. People are claiming that they made it all up. Well, Archer knows those rumours are false, and with the help of his best friends and new neighbour, Kana, he is going to prove it. Off the foursome set, into a snowstorm and beyond, to restore his grandparents’ reputation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Nov 16, 2017
• ISBN: 9780008149451

Nicholas Gannon

Nicholas Gannon studied art and design and held a number of odd jobs before becoming a full-time author and illustrator. He has lived in Tennessee, Minnesota, and upstate New York. He now resides in Brooklyn, and he can sometimes be found eavesdropping on curious conversations at the Explorers Club. www.nicholasjgannon.com

Reviews for The Doldrums and the Helmsley Curse

[imtanner2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a book about Archer who desperately wants to go on adventure but his mother believes it to be unsafe. In desperation, Archer starts to plan a trip to look for his grandparents who disappeared in Antarctica on a iceberg while studying penguins. Archer gets his two friends to join him. It's funny and beautifully illustrated.

[kimpiddington · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed the characters and the illustrations!

[bragan_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Young Archer B. Helmsley is the grandson of a pair of famous explorers, and he has very much inherited their thirst for adventure. But when his grandparents disappear on an iceberg in the Antarctic, his mother becomes so over-protective she barely lets him out of the house. Still, he's not going to let that stop him from planning a trip to look for his grandparents, with the help of a couple of friends (including a one-legged French ballerina).A decent enough kids' book with a bit of humor and some nice illustrations, but not a very memorable one.Rating: I'm sure it would have done a lot more for me as a kid as did as an adult, so I'm going to let Adult Me and Inner Child Me split the difference and call it 3.5/5.

[auntie0nanuuq · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Arthur Hemsley, stuck in a boarding school due to a fiasco w/ tigers & a polar bear (that must have been book 1) is about to return home for the holidays....His grandparents who are members of an Exploration Society are also on their way home after being lost on an iceberg for the past 10 +/- years; but there are some people who do not want to see elder Hemsleys returning and will do all they can to discredit them.Arthur's friends Adelaide & Oscar are more than happy to spend time w/ Arthur again & help clear the names of his grandparents.Adventure, mystery, intrigue, mayhem, good guys vs. bad guys, & excitement....I found the book to be a bit long and the dialog a bit draggy, which is why I took off 1/2 star.I was impresses by the physical quality of the book, it was sturdy & had heavy paper pages.