Figgs & Phantoms

"Figgs & Phantoms" is a 1974 young adult novel written by Ellen Raskin. It won the Newbery Honor award.

The story centers on Mona Lisa Figg Newton, a teenage girl living in the fictional town of Pineapple with her eccentric family, including: her tap dancing mother, Sister Figg Newton; her uncles, Truman the Human Pretzel, Romulus the Walking Book of Knowledge, Remus the Talking Adding Machine, and Kadota with his Nine Performing Kanines; and her cousin Fido the Second. The only family member Mona gets along with is her uncle Florence, a book dealer. A main concern of the characters is Capri, the Figg family heaven, which involves a ritual passed down through the Figg family for generations. Uncle Florence's greatest wish is to find his Capri. Mona's greatest fear is that her uncle will succeed and leave her alone.

The novel is a satire on small-town life, a meditation on love and death, a tribute to the theater, a mystery, a drama, a comedy, a romance, and a book within a book, in equal measures. The striking visual design of the book, which augments the text with vintage playbill-style advertisements and Pop Art frontspieces, adds a third dimension to the book, making it a dreamlike experience.