The Gammage Cup

The Minnipins live in a remote valley, cut off from the rest of their world. They remember how their ancestors got to the valley, but nothing that comes before that event. Why did they leave their former home? What were they fleeing? These questions feel irrelevant to the current inhabitants of the valley.

Instead they focus their energies on conforming to the standards set up by the leaders of their communities, like painting their front doors green, acting in expected ways, and keeping their houses organized.

Except for a few.

Muggles, Gummy the poet and Walter the Earl are not like the other Minnipins. They don’t dress the same. Nor do they think the same. Walter the Earl is obsessed with history. He digs and digs, and reads and reads, researching the history of the Minnipins. Most other Minnipins look at him askance – why does it matter?

Pretty soon, the entire valley realizes the importance of those ‘different’ Minnipins.

The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall is an amusing, captivating and suspenseful read – highly recommended for ages 14 and up.