Review 3: The Curse of the Ram’s Head

I don’t recall the last time I read a book I’d classify as Young Adult Fiction. (No, I haven’t read one single word of J.K. Rowling.) But I am glad to have picked up Thomas Graham’s The Curse of the Ram’s Head on Lulu this week. Mr. Graham’s central character is a twelve year old boy named Tim Duggan. Tim and his parents have just returned home from summer vacation when they make a pit stop in a small town. The author does a great job of giving his characters a voice anyone can relate to right from the start. Tim is bored with his Mom’s road trip games like searching for license plates from each state. He’s antsy to just get out of the car and stretch his legs (and use the bathroom). Mom wants to buy post cards for the trip scrap book. Dad is just tired of driving and eager to get home.

Tim spots an old antique store with a ferocious stuffed lynx in the window. With his parents’ permission, he goes into the store for a closer look. With twelve bucks burning a hole in his pocket, Tim wants to buy the stuffed beast but the antique dealer doesn’t want to sell. He goes to the back and brings out a box he thinks might interest Tim instead. Inside the box is a stuffed ram’s head with huge horns and life-like eyes.

The old man tells Tim the animal’s head is cursed and was responsible for the horrible demise of a man named Big Ben. To break the curse, a person has to “take the ram by the horns” and repeat a chant three times with his eyes closed. The tall tale intrigues Tim even more, and he just knows the ram’s head will make a perfect souvenir from his summer vacation. After some hesitation, Tim’s parents agree to let him buy it but Tim discovers he left his wallet in the car. His dad fronts him the money and they return home with the odd relic in tow.

By the fourth chapter, Tim is back home and anxious to show off the ram’s head to his pals. It definitely makes Tim the center of attention, and one of his friends offers to buy it from him. Tim notices the ram’s eyes have started to glow red, but when he mentions it to his buddies they don’t notice it at all. Tim dismisses it, but later that night he discovers the ram’s mouth has started to form into a snarl. He refuses to believe in such things as curses, but the ram’s head haunts his dreams that night. When he awakes the next morning, tension between his parents starts to rise and Tim begins to suspect the ram might be responsible.

Mr. Graham had me hooked from the beginning. By the fifth chapter, I was already envisioning cool illustrations that could really help bring his story to life even more for younger readers. He does an excellent job of keeping the story moving by using believable dialog between his characters. Tim remains the center of attention throughout the entire story. He’s the curious boy next door that any kid can relate to. I imagined how wide-eyed youngsters would be if parents were reading this out loud to them.

The author has done a superb job at building suspense as the story moves along. His nicely paced story telling definitely kept me interested, and I don’t imagine it would grow boring in the least for a younger reader. My only complaint would be a lack of detail in some situations. There were parts of the story where I definitely wanted more descriptive detail to play out. I had fun allowing my imagination to run with this tale, but I bet a few scenes drawn out a bit more would really build up the climax even more. Climactic chapter breaks kept the pages turning, such as when the antique dealer is about to show the ram’s head to Tim. The reaction from Tim’s parents was great, but I would have liked a little more detail of how the ram’s head looked and of the interaction between Tim and his new treasure when he holds it for the first time.

But overall, Graham does a great job of building an “Oedipus” like tale around the feared curse.  As events began to play out mimicking what the antique dealer told Tim had happened before, the boy tries to break the curse by following the instructions he was given but it doesn’t work. When tragedy falls on Tim, his father picks up in his son’s place to figure out how to beat the horrible ram’s head.  The climax of the story was totally unexpected, but I certainly won’t ruin it for you here.

The magic of Lulu is being able to bring your books and stories to life via a published format. Lulu even provides free cover art, which Mr. Graham has taken advantage of here. I’ve seen several Lulu books with the “purple sky with lightning” picture. That said, I would love for someone to reach out to this author and possibly offer some artwork of their own. This is a great young adult story that would be very deserving of a one-of-a-kind cover. I imagine a massive ram’s head across the cover with glowing red eyes, large curly gold horns, and script writing with the word “Curse” in eerie bold letters. See, I told you this book fueled my imagination.

Overall, I highly recommend Thomas Graham’s story to readers, young and old, who enjoy a good wholesome adventure.  Graham’s Lulu bookstore also offers other adventures of Tim Duggan such as Tim and the Time Machine, On the Surface of the Planet, and The Secret of Sweetwater Cave which I am sure are just as delightful.