Zorgamazoo is Canadian children's author Robert Paul Weston

Robert Paul Weston

Robert Paul Weston is a British-born Canadian children's author. His debut was the award-winning novel-in-verse, Zorgamazoo. His short fiction has appeared in literary journals in Canada, the UK and the United States....

's first novel. The work is a fantasy adventure, written entirely in rhyming anapestic tetrameter

Anapestic tetrameter

Anapestic tetrameter is a poetic meter that has four anapestic metrical feet per line. Each foot has two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable...

.

The story follows a young girl named Katrina Katrell, who runs away from home when her guardian threatens her with a lobotomy. Seeking shelter beneath the street, she meets Mortimer Yorgle, who belongs to a subterranean race of creatures called zorgles. Although he is ill-suited for the job, Mortimer has been sent to solve the mystery of what happened to the lost zorgles of Zorgamazoo.

The novel is a 2009 E.B. White Honor Book

The EB White Read Aloud Award

The E.B. White Read Aloud Award was established in 2004 by The Association of Booksellers for Children to honor books that its membership felt embodied the universal read aloud standards that were created by the work of the beloved author E.B. White....

 and won the California Young Reader Medal

California Young Reader Medal

The California Young Reader Medal is an award given annually to books nominated and voted on by children in California. The medal was established in 1974 and encourages recreational reading...

, the Children's Choice Award, and the Silver Birch Award from the Ontario Library Association. It was also named a top ten debut of 2008 by Booklist Magazine

Booklist

Booklist is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. It is geared toward libraries and booksellers and is available in print or online...

and a notable book of 2009 by the Children's Literature Assembly.