mis(chief)fits

The Misfits : The Royal Conundrum by Lisa Yee + Dan Santat

Random House, 2024

Hardcover Middle Grade, 288pp.

With gratitude to Edelweiss+ and Random House for the eARC.

“When a notorious thief is out for priceless treasure (gems! cats! general decorum!)—who’re you gonna call? An elite team of crime-fighting underdogs, that’s who!” (publisher’s copy)

I knew this would be solid read and I was not disappointed. I look forward to seeing the actual finished art (as the eARC only offered gestures), but I know they can only add to the fun. The Misfits is humorous and full of youthful hijinks. Does it test the imagination of an adult reader at times? sure; but it is the kind of mystery, action, and friendship dynamics that young readers should adore (even as I worry it runs/feels a bit long). This one should catch some intersection of Kelly Yang and Stuart Gibbs readers.

cursedly good

Curse of the Eelgrass Bog by Mary Averling

Razorbill, 2024

Hardcover middle grade HR/F, 256pp.

With Gratitude to Edelweiss+ and Razorbillfor the eARC.

“Dark secrets and unnatural magic abound when a twelve-year-old girl ventures into a bog full of monsters to break a mysterious curse.” (publisher’s copy)

I enjoyed the whimsical nature of this middle grade SFF: the Unnatural Museum; the talking shrunken head in a jar named Jim. The story is so well-written: atmospheric; Kess’ feelings so well-described. It’s a beautiful story about loss, hard feelings—and tender ones. It is about desperation and the courage to confront the past—and the future. Curse of the Eelgrass Bog is at turns creepy and sweet, and is always strange. It brought to mind Jodi Lynn Anderson’s May Bird trilogy.

I believe readers of The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead + Wendy Mass will find similar mysteries at work; though this one is more unsettling; the story here more intimate, the consequences more deeply noticed. (Both insisting time move more quickly in their epilogues than is realistic.)

calling all contemporary romance readers

Last Call at the Local by Sarah Grunder Ruiz

Berkley, 2024

Paperback ROM, 368 pp

with gratitude to Berkley & Edelweiss+ for the eARC.

Opposites attract when a free-spirited American singer-songwriter with ADHD teams up with a charming Irishman to revitalize his family’s pub. (publisher’s copy)

With the encouragement of a co-worker, I’m re-entering the world of Contemporary Romances, and what better treat than Last Call at the Local.  I love a well-written novel where you feel seen and are reminded of how deserving you are of a sexy, swoon-worthy romance.  ADHD, OCD, those intrusive thoughts, complicated family histories…they influence our life choices and impact our relationships. It’s a pleasure to watch how it plays out for our protagonists. It’s sometimes easy to witness, other times heart-wrenching, but always meaningful, always hopeful.

The greater premise is charming and romantic. The neighborhood, relatives (found and given), the cat are delightfully realized. The turns are sensical and create a satisfying tension. I enjoyed both the external and internal landscapes of our protagonists and the alternating perspectives. The pacing felt patient, drawing the reader in even as the author was drawing her lovers closer together.

Last Call at the Local is fun, sensitive, and easy to fall in love with.

rising

Sky’s End (Above the Black 1) by Marc J. Gregson

Peachtree Teen, 2024

Hardcover Debut YA SFF, 416pp

With Gratitude to Edelweiss+ and Peachtree Teen for the eARC

“Exiled to live as a Low, sixteen-year-old Conrad refuses to become heir to his murderous uncle. But Meritocracy is a harsh and unforgiving rule on the floating island of Holmstead, and when his ailing mother is killed by monstrous gorgantauns, Conrad cuts a deal to save the only family he has left. To rescue his sister from his uncle’s clutches, Conrad must enter the Selection of the Twelve Trades.

“Hunter, the deadliest of all the Trades, gains a fresh recruit with Conrad. Now he must endure vigorous training, manipulative peers, and the Gauntlet—a brutal final test that yields riches and status to whichever skyship crew kills the most gorgantauns. Forced to serve in the lowest of stations and unseen by all, Conrad overhears whispers of rebellion in the dark. Conrad had never known anything existed below the toxic black clouds of the Skylands . . . until now. ” (publisher’s copy)

Sky’s End offers “a kill-or-be-killed competition where a scrappy underdog hell-bent on revenge must claw his way to the top” (publisher’s copy). The action in this high-seas (without the seas) adventure is non-stop and I’m still marveling at the beating the protagonist’s body takes. The world is a hard one, and a beautifully realized one under Gregson’s deft hand. The twists and turns are lovely. The action sequences are cinematic. That this Gregson’s debut has me giddy for what is to come.

Conrad reminds me of Bardugo’s Kaz Brekkar (Six of Crows) in his woundedness, determination, and social awkwardness. The team Gregson forms around his central character is just as gritty and intriguing. Both Ben Oliver The Loop fans and Philip Reeves’ Mortal Instruments fans should also take note.

v is for veracity

V is for Victorine by Anne Nesbet

Candlewick, 2023. HC, 263pp

Ages 8-12.  MG; MYS; HF

Thank you Candlewick and Edelweiss+ for the eARC.

In this exciting sequel to Daring Darleen, Queen of the Screen, a young heiress in hiding and her film star best friend go on a quick-paced caper through early Hollywood.

It’s 1915, and “missing” heiress Victorine Berryman is living incognito as “Bella Mae Goodwin” with her best friend, Darleen Darling, star of the exciting photoplay serials adventure-loving audiences crave. When the girls travel cross-country to set up roots in Hollywood, California, home of the developing film industry, they find themselves mixed up in a plot as dramatic as anything on the screen, involving switched luggage, stolen artifacts, and nefarious characters hot on their tails. But the stakes are entirely too real! As brave and resourceful Victorine tries to escape the villains’ clutches, she meets a slew of early Hollywood Who’s Whos and experiences the magic of the movie business—as well as its problems, including the harmful prejudices that can be perpetuated by popular films. Can Victorine thwart the bad guys—and figure out who she truly wants to be? (Publisher’s copy)

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I do not read a large number of historical middle grade fiction (outside of Victorian era England), but I studied film and I could get excited by Anne Nesbet choosing this less than usual focus. Regardless of subject matter, Nesbet is remarkably skilled at integrating historical detail into all aspects of the novel; the details not being there to only demonstrate credentials or to ‘inform the reader,’ but to contribute to (or inform) the story at work.

V is for Victorine picks up a year following Daring Darleen, Queen of the Screen and for this second novel, switches to Victorine’s point of view. Nesbet does a successful job of making the novels feel companionable, while allowing the personality shift. The third person limited narrator (and its occasional parentheticals) is the same voice, the tone and concerns are Victorine’s. The energy is scaled back; the physical hijinks in Daring Darlene are not as generously dispensed—the self-discoveries for Victorine don’t require them.

For Victorine, the challenge is not to become someone that would worry their father, but to not become the someone their dear Grandmama hoped they would be. A big occupation (introduced in Daring Darlene) is honesty, being truthful—and true to herself (whoever that is).

Being real is a great conversation to hold in a book that is also about movie-making; an industry that works in deception and manipulation. It’s an industry that entertains questions like: what are the stories we tell; how are they delivered; of what does it convince audience members?

Some examples the novel explores are: Stage Names, which comes up in book one and continues here. The not terribly foreign idea (even today) that older actors play younger characters. I like the set up in the novel in how Victorine and Darlene themselves change their appearances and demeanors to skew younger or older when needed. Are they being deceptive, manipulative, dishonest?  Is it just a part of who they are and contexts demand different parts of ourselves?  Victorine is thoughtful and articulate and her introspection (and external interrogations) will be relatable.

Some of the cool historical facts Nesbet so flawlessly places will prove intriguing; most will feel relevant. For one, Nesbet does a good job explaining the significance of D.W. Griffith’s film The Birth of a Nation (1915) within the narrative restraints given. An older reader reading along should really be able to emphasize it though. The parallel conversation regarding the need for people to tell their own stories also resonates.

Talks surrounding class distinction is a good idea with a character who is an heiress, and Nesbet explores it, but I found that next step—Grandmama’s revelation at the end–to be not only worthwhile, but exciting. We not only get a history of film (technologically and culturally), but we get a glimpse at a history of thought. Grandmama (and some other powerful women characters) are progressive, but Victorine is on a trajectory to prove moreso.

V is for Victorine could encourage really interesting book club talk about where we’ve been and how much further we have to go re: race, class, sex/gender, reparations. It should definitely inspire some time reviewing classic films and images of actors the books reference. The backmatter is excellent.

I’ve enjoyed this series so far, and could easily recommend them to young fans of historical fiction–and especially those looking to write historical fiction.

a song of reunification

The Thief Who Sang Storms by Sophie Anderson

In the US: Scholastic, 2023. HC 336pp.

MG SFF Action-Adventure; Magic; Friendship; Unity.

The Island of Morovia is shaped like a broken heart. The humans live on one side of the island, and the alkonosts — the bird-people — live on the other. But it wasn’t always this way…

Linnet wishes she could sing magic, like her father, Nightingale — and bring the two sides of her island together again. For her land has been divided by a terrible tragedy, and Linnet has been banished with her father to the deepest swamps, leaving behind her best friends, Hero and Silver.

So when her father is captured, Linnet must be brave and embark on a treacherous journey. Through alligator pools and sinking sands, she finds new friends. Yet without her singing magic, Linnet discovers something even more powerful. Something that could save her father, and heal the broken heart of her island once more… (Publisher’s Copy)

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Sophie Anderson is one of those authors I will read anything she writes. I’ve yet to be disappointed. A skilled storyteller, she crafts such compelling characters and worlds. She describes grief so beautifully—and she won’t leave you alone with it, deftly carrying both her characters and readers through.

“Your mother touched the world, and she touched you, and those touches persist. You can use them to bring her close whenever you need her. You can think your mother close. You can sing her close.”

In The Thief Who Sang Storms, our protagonist Linnet suffers incredible loss. And she is continually pushed further to the edges of a breaking world that is growing increasingly hopeless. But her love carries her through and she carries a deep love for her homeland.

Linnet is determined to do what she can to see the island of Morovia reunited. She would see humans and alkonosts (like her) living and working alongside one another once more. She longs for healing so that she may return to her family home, her childhood friends, to see her father restored. It isn’t to be—not yet. And it will get worse before it gets better.

Anderson writes hard moments and painful revelations and who better to find a way to do so with compassion for even the most disgusting of creatures. Wisdom is offered. Wounds validated. Anderson addresses the challenges of what it means to choose kindness; honoring the struggle, the costs; because what other way is there forward. She writes us a character who is believable when she—after everything—can still sing a song of unity, can still extend a hand.

“Remember, almost anything can be achieved with stubbornness. You can use it to fight for what is important.”

Of course, Anderson seems to understand not only grief, but fear, and she speaks with the power of perspective. She uses perspective, allows us (and Linnet) glimpses of the fear and grief in others and provides the wisdom to empathize. Grief and fear are shown to have consequences that lead to division, but can also bring people together. Loss and uncertainty can be shared, but communication is key, as is a willingness to find another way forward. Linnet has to find another means to fulfill what she believes is her destiny, her desired outcome. She is creative, desperate, courageous. Her willingness to be vulnerable is breathtaking.

The Thief Who Sang Storms is lovely and challenging. There is sweetness and adventure. It grows and deepens the empathetic response. It makes you wonder if solutions here might work for our own trying times. What song might we find that others might rally around? What stubbornness might we cultivate for our own good and the good of others? Anderson offers us plenty of ideas to think about and feelings to feel. She has a story to tell and it’s one worth hearing.

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If you like The Orphans and the Ogress by Kate Barnhill and vice versa. You should read The House With Chicken Legs (2018), if you haven’t. It’s excellent, but it’s also referenced in subsequent novels (much to our delight).

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Sophie Anderson grew up in Swansea, studied at Liverpool University, and has worked as a geologist and science teacher. She currently lives in England’s Lake District with her husband and enjoys the freedom of homeschooling her three children, walking, canoeing, and daydreaming. She loves to write stories inspired by different folklores, cultures, and landscapes. Sophie is the author of The Girl Who Speaks Bear and The House With Chicken Legs.

18 authors, 1 murder

The Grimoire of Grave Fates Edited by Hanna Alkaf + Margaret Owen.

Collaborators: Preeti Chhibber, Kat Cho, Mason Deaver, Natasha Díaz, Hafsah Faizal, Victoria Lee, Jessica Lewis, Darcie Little Badger, Kwame Mbalia, L. L. McKinney, Tehlor Kay Mejia, Cam Montgomery, Marieke Nijkamp, Karuna Riazi, Randy Ribay, Yamile Saied Méndez, Kayla Whaley, and Julian Winters.

Delacorte, 2023. HC 464pp.

Crack open your spell book and enter the world of the illustrious Galileo Academy for the Extraordinary. There’s been a murder on campus, and it’s up to the students of Galileo to solve it. Follow 18 authors and 18 students as they puzzle out the clues and find the guilty party.

Professor of Magical History Septimius Dropwort has just been murdered, and now everyone at the Galileo Academy for the Extraordinary is a suspect.

Told from more than a dozen alternating and diverse perspectives, The Grimoire of Grave Fates follows Galileo’s best and brightest young magicians as they race to discover the truth behind Dropwort’s mysterious death. Each one of them is confident that only they have the skills needed to unravel the web of secrets hidden within Galileo’s halls. But they’re about to discover that even for straight-A students, magic doesn’t always play by the rules. . . (Publisher’s Copy

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Professor of Magical History Septimius Dropwort is a particularly hideous figure. The kind that suits a mystery where the murderer could be anyone. And yet, some will be eliminated from the running fairly quickly. Their contribution will be clue-finding and/or networking. And despite what the publisher’s copy says about “racing to discover the truth,” each character creates their own sense of urgency. Each author/character chooses how they’ll use their allotted hour.

It is particularly interesting to watch how the novel provides a motivation for each protagonist’s participation. Some will need to provide an alibi or evidence to support their innocence, but others will have to find a more creative approach: it’s according to a prophesy; it’s a quest; it’s an opportunity to be their favorite investigator; or—one of my favorites—because the powers that be are inept and the school (literally) needs to be able to move on as quickly as possible. 

Like the 18 authors themselves: characters will read LGBTQ and Non-Binary, Native American, Black, Asian, Latinx, Muslim, *disabled, neurodiverse and socially awkward. Backgrounds span the socio-economic, magical inheritance, and familial structures. The novel even provides different passionate pursuits, some relational in nature, political, artistic, intellectual… The capture of different personalities, cultural histories, and motivations is a primary contributor to the strength and success of The Grimoire of Grave Fates.

The other strength has to be the editors. The most common collaborative project that is  “edited by” is a theme-oriented anthology of collected short-stories. We tend to think little about what that means other than editors collect the stories and put them in some semblance of order. But the impressively coherent result of this murder mystery can only be the fault of its editors. They held a vision for the narrative and the writers fell into line. While each piece is distinct, everyone is working toward the unfolding of the who-dunnit, and why. Will the sequence of hours transition smoothly or maintain a single story pacing? No. The project will make up for that in other ways.

Where we learn about a student in their chapter, over the course of the novel we’ll learn who Dropwort was–the contexts that created/nurtured him, and how Galileo Academy (and its staff) plays its part. Septimius Dropwort is, in a sense, a group project—which suits those themes of what/who goes into the making (and murdering) of a person.

Not all of the characters and their antics are restricted to their chapter and so they may become the respected property of other authors. You can tell there was collaboration here as the shared characters remained consistent, the events they inspire follow through coherently. I would have loved to have seen some a little more frequently, but that’s a personal preference. I’m still marveling at how well pieced together this project is. And given how much of the setting and its world can account for, I marvel at how the editors keep their 18 threads over 18 hours so nicely woven.

The editors and contributors gave themselves a lot of room to play structurally and cleverly used certain devices as thread. Each chapter provided a certain expectation: a character physically described and their internal landscape telegraphed; their backgrounds and their reasons for being at Galileo provided; a connection to the murder played out. How that looked varied (occasionally). The opening character has a fairly conventional narrative, but the second is told in the form of a transcript from his interrogation. The evidence file reportage that alternates between characters may differ in nature; an object, an exchange of texts or emails. Notes, texts, announcements over the loudspeaker are interspersed organically. (I read the novel as an ebook, so I’m guessing the format is even more pleasing in paper form).

The grounds and inhabitants of Galileo Academy are another playground. The flying gyroscope that is the Academy with its different schools is presently hovering above Stockholm where Neutrals (non-magical) and Students (sorcerers, witches, etc) are completing an exchange program. It is a fantastic and strange world. And it is a marvelous opportunity for the storytellers to create a slow but compelling reveal of the murder mystery at hand as it will require us to become acquainted with the world and its inhabitants. And so each author and their student offer a greater familiarity with some aspect of the Academy than others whether it be an administrator, professor, a creature, location, history, rule, magical thing, etc.

One of my favorite aspects of The Grimoire of Grave Fates is that the magic– where it is sourced and how it is articulated—is diverse and inclusive. The imaginations and cultural roots behind it’s invention/expression are truly lovely. I feel the editors led with one of the best writers to set the groundwork for what is to come, Marieke Nijkamp and their character Wren.

While Nijkamp sets a tone for just how inclusive and diverse the perspectives might be, the atmospheric is definitely left to each writer. The Grimoire of Grave Fates will provide humor, romance, friendship, combat, mythology, spooky-shit, cute animals and vicious ones, pop culture references, family dramas, charming liars, and lots of puns. As long as the Reader has an interest in the mysteries of magic and/or murder, there is something or someone for them in The Grimoire of Grave Fates. And if the Reader’s experience is anything like mine, they’ll find a new author to pursue.

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Highly recommended: for lovers of magic systems, mythology, murder/mysteries, and/or dark academia. And if you could use something refreshingly different.  If you aren’t already pursuing every novel Hanna Alkaf authors: do so, even her middle grade. It’ll be worth your time to seek out other anthologies with these authors, and not just their novels.

** examples: Chronic pain; brace-wearer; scoliosis; wheel chair user

deceptions abound

The Winterton Deception: The Final Word by Janet Sumner Johnson

Pixel + Ink, 2023. HC, 336pp.

Ages 10-14.  MG; MYS; Family; Friendship.

Thank you to Edelweiss Plus and Pixel + Ink for the eARC.

In this twisty middle grade mystery for fans of Knives Out , The Inheritance Games , and The Westing Game , thirteen-year-old twins Hope and Gordon enter a spelling bee in a last-ditch effort to save their family from financial ruin, only to find themselves in a cut-throat competition to uncover a fortune and dark secrets about the wealthy relations they’ve never known.

Hope Smith can’t stand rich people—the dictionary magnate family the Wintertons most of all. Not since she and her twin brother, Gordon, learned that their dad was one. So when Gordon enters the family into the Winterton’s charity spelling bee, Hope wants nothing to do with it. But with their mom losing her job and the family facing eviction from the motel where they live, they desperately need the money, and it looks like Hope doesn’t have much of a choice.

After winning the preliminary round, the Smiths are whisked to Winterton Chalet to compete in the official Winterton Bee against their long-lost relatives. Hope wants to get in and out, beat the snobbish family at their own game, and never see them again. But deceased matriarch Jane Winterton had other plans for this final family showdown. Before her death, she set up a clue hunt throughout the manor—an alternate way for Hope and Gordon to get the money that could change their lives.

Still, others are on the trail, too. With tensions at an all-time high, a fortune at stake, and long-simmering family secrets about to boil to the surface, anything could happen.

A tense, clever clue hunt unafraid to tackle the challenges and secrets often kept behind closed doors, Final Word is a gripping series starter sure to satisfy even the most voracious armchair detectives. (publisher’s copy)

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As a fan of Knives Out, The Inheritance Games and Westing Game, I was really excited for this book. The cover and the promise of an estate mystery brought to mind Greenglass House by Kate Milford—which, of course, is a good thing. I was also a bit on edge as The Final Word is a well-hyped book.

The hype is well-deserved. The only thing I would say is that I didn’t expect how long those 336 pages would feel. Author Janet Sumner Johnson wasn’t being tedious, it was the necessary set-up, the actual bee, the puzzle that–like, what we find in Westing Game—is integral to the plot. The Final Word takes time, and takes its time.

We open with 13-year old twins Hope and Gordon Smith visiting the grave of their newly-discovered father—the youngest son of the wealthy Winterton family. We open with the first significant cleft in the twin’s relationship, the first groan of the growing pains they will have to confront. Gordon wants more and Hope is left feeling inadequate—also, she hates wealthy people (for a reason).

Hope isn’t keen on Gordon’s plans to learn more about the Wintertons, let alone enter one of their contests. But the Smiths are poor: mom works two jobs and they live in a motel room (the site of one of her jobs). The winnings could go a long way and the children are smart. Hope is practically a genius.

The Smiths sign up for the unconventional structure of the spelling bee and they win—no spoilers there. They end up at the final bee hosted on the Winterton Estate. If the reader feels like all this was a bit…easy, the novel doesn’t mind. In fact, it is planting these seeds all along, the question of “Just what is really going on?” becomes a very fertile question by the end.

Alongside the Winterton family drama is a Smith family drama all their own. No one but Hope is acting as expected, but even she will prove deceptive. Then there is the part where Hope has to learn to adjust her thinking, to temper her edge. But that edge is not without value; and that sharper than most perception is going to be necessary. The trick of the novel (and Hope) is navigating not only the mysteries at hand, but the emotions Hope is experiencing as well. The author has multiple plotlines and characters to develop.

Sumner Johnson does well with the puzzles, the uncovering and unfolding of mysteries and the individuals involved. She makes full use of that first-person POV in Hope who is both capable and, naturally, limited. Any sensation of inconsistency in a character’s behavior (especially the Mom’s) can be explained away by an initial misperception, shifting perceptions, or real time explanations as to what could be impacting said character. The Smiths find themselves in a strange and very tense situation. They’ll soon find themselves in real danger.

Sumner Johnson slowly turns up the dial on just how perilous this adventure is going to become. This is the aspect of the novel that pushes the 8-12 to 10-14 age recommendation for many reviewers.  There is a lot of money at stake and plenty of desperate characters. From the minute Hope becomes threatened onward, the roller coaster drops. The end action is delightfully intense.

Sumner Johnson does deliver a “tense, clever clue hunt”—and a dense one. I’m mildly curious to see where she’ll go with the following books. I suppose that while the final reveal was easily the least surprising one in the novel, it is the one that will launch the next Winterton Deception? There was no real cliff-hanger ending. But I guess there was one thread left without a bow…

Something to appreciate about The Final Word is that there is enough in its pages to appeal to a range of young fiction readers. There is mystery, action, classism, family and friendship drama, spelling. If the unfolding of the family history and reconciliation isn’t one reader’s vibe, it’s only one part of the whole. There is plenty to uncover, because both Sumner Johnson and the Wintertons really are deceptive.

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Noted:

__Jane Austen and her work are a feature in The Final Word. I appreciate how the author doesn’t assume the reader would know either in detail, allowing Hope’s ignorance to make her a relatable (if not useful) POV.

__I noticed reviews that seemed to deny the author/novel a star based on Hope’s un/likeability. I find that unfortunate. I wish more had gone the direction Kirkus Reviews did in their starred review: “Hope’s chip-on-the-shoulder personality is thoroughly unlikable for a large portion of the book—and is essential for the ending to work (which it does). “ they are right. Hope is essential for that ending to work.

__The only detractions I had was the sheer oddity of the mom’s and/or Gordon’s absences at times; but they could also be argued under Hope’s growing misunderstanding of who they are and how they will relate to her under these (unusual) circumstances.

__It really does feel familiar to Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ The Inheritance Games and Rian Johnson’s film Knives Out–only middle grade.

linden

Bittersweet in the Hollow (Book 1) by Kate Pearsall

Putnam Young Readers, 2023. HC, 384. Ages 12-18.

YA; MYS; ROM; CF/F; DEBUT Out OCT 10.

With gratitude to NetGalley and Putnam Young Readers for the eARC.

In this beautifully dark and enthralling YA, four sisters with unusual talents investigate a mysterious disappearance in their secluded Appalachian town. For fans of House of Hollow and Wilder Girls!

In rural Caball Hollow, surrounded by the vast National Forest, the James women serve up more than fried green tomatoes at the Harvest Moon diner, where the family recipes are not the only secrets.

Like her sisters, Linden was born with an unusual ability. She can taste what others are feeling, but this so-called gift soured her relationship with the vexingly attractive Cole Spencer one fateful night a year ago . . . A night when Linden vanished into the depths of the Forest and returned with no memories of what happened, just a litany of questions–and a haze of nightmares that suggest there’s more to her story than simply getting lost.

Now, during the hottest summer on record, another girl in town is gone, and the similarities to last year’s events are striking. Except, this time the missing girl doesn’t make it home, and when her body is discovered, the scene unmistakably spells murder.

As tempers boil over, Linden enlists the help of her sisters to find what’s hiding in the forest . . . before it finds her. But as she starts digging for truth–about the Moth-Winged Man rumored to haunt the Hollow, about her bitter rift with Cole, and even about her family–she must question if some secrets are best left buried. (Publisher’s Copy).

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Both the relationships and the mysteries of Bittersweet in the Hollow are a slow and steady unfolding, written with a sure hand. If this is Kate Pearson’s debut, then she is definitely going to be a writer to watch.

Linden went missing the night of The Moth Festival, the biggest night of year in the small town of Caball Hollow, West Virginia. She was found within 24-hours, but was hurt and is still missing the memory of what happened. But what happened that night is just one mystery Bittersweet in the Hollow will investigate. Linden isn’t the only one to go missing in the forest, but she is the only one to be found alive. And is the legend of the Moth-Winged Man real?

Pearsall writes a rich history for her town, one steeped in the folklore that came with the Irish founders hundreds of years before. She gives us deeply buried secrets that slowly wind their way out of hiding; some having to do with the missing, the murdered, and the estranged. At the center of it all is the James women.

page 322 excerpt from Bittersweet in the Hollow by Kate Pearsall

With the intergenerational household of James women with four sisters ‘born in as many years’, we get an intriguing line of witches with their individual abilities and approaches to their craft. In Bittersweet in the Hollow, we’ll get Linden as our first person narrator and all that she entails: the amnesia, the revelations of her magic, her falling in love with a childhood friend, her roles as grand/daughter, sister, and friend. It is through her we are offered a captivating introduction to Caball Hollow, its residents, and Pearson’s skill at using all the senses (especially taste).

Pearsall has crafted plenty of compelling characters, but for our first introduction to the lore and chemistry of the James family and their town, Linden really is a fantastic choice. Linden is highly empathic and incredibly courageous. Her strengths could also count as flaws (naturally). And it’s a tension in the novel: who she is, how she is, and what that means for everyone around her. She’s given the strongest reasons to unbury the past and to fear and grieve its consequences.

chapter 24 excerpt from Bittersweet in the Hollow by Kate Pearsall

Romance readers will probably get the greatest amount of pleasure from the read, already anticipating a series set-up. Four sisters with an array of fiery temperaments… We’ve got the swoon-worthy boy next door and the sexy dangerous stranger. We even have estranged parents (fingers crossed there). But the lore is also satisfying and the dark and disturbing facets of the novel work. There are some really creepy and truly heartbreaking experiences to be had that have nothing to do with romance.

The pacing is quieter than I anticipated, the memories and such coming more irregularly. The revelations come at their own pace. Pearsall doesn’t seem worried. The confidence in the storytelling is there and carries the protagonist and reader toward a satisfying conclusion. Pearsall will give us plenty of bitter to go with the sweet. And she’ll give us an ending that will invite us to return to Caball Hollow and I’m excited by the opportunity. The James women, their chemistry, this small town… Yes, please, and thank you.

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It may be one of those serial romances featuring the love lives of each of the sisters. We can guess with whom the next sister will be paired…and in which book: Lies on the Serpent Tongue is expected for 2024.

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Represented: a glimpse of a queer relationship; everyone codes white and able. The trauma response is there though—well done.

(be)longing

The Puppets of Spelhorst: A Norendy Tale

by Kate DiCamillo + Julie Morstad

Candlewick, 2023 HC, 160pp.

Ages 7-10. Fantasy; Illustrated; Timeless

With gratitude to Edelweiss + Candlewick for an eARC.

An original fairy tale in which five puppets confront circumstances beyond their control with patience, cunning, and high spirits. Shut up in a trunk by a taciturn old sea captain with a secret, five friends—a king, a wolf, a girl, a boy, and an owl—bicker, boast, and comfort one another in the dark. Individually, they dream of song and light, freedom and flight, purpose and glory, but they all agree they are part of a larger story, bound each to each by chance, bonded by the heart’s mysteries. When at last their shared fate arrives, landing them on a mantel in a blue room in the home of two little girls, the truth is more astonishing than any of them could have imagined. A beloved author of modern classics draws on her most moving themes with humor, heart, and wisdom in the first of the Norendy Tales, a projected trio of novellas linked by place and mood, each illustrated in black and white by a different virtuoso illustrator. A magical and beautifully packaged gift volume designed to be read aloud and shared, The Puppets of Spelhorst is a tale that soothes and strengthens us on our journey, leading us through whatever dark forest we find ourselves in. (Publisher’s copy)

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“’We will tell a tale of truth and wonder and sorrow,’ said Emma” to her audience. Kate DiCamillo + Julie Morstad must’ve said the same, because that is what you experience with The Puppets of Spelhorst: truth and wonder and sorrow.

The story, told in three Acts, opens with an old sea captain named Spelhorst who was alone in the world. He comes across a shop with puppets in the window. One in particular catches his eye, but he can’t only take the one. “’The puppets must be purchased together or not at all,’ said the clerk, ‘for they are in a story.’” And you’ll come to realize that it is Spelhorst who has joined their story—writing himself into it when he is inspired to pen a very important letter.

The puppets (and a letter) will soon come into another’s possession and Emma, too, is inspired to write–in her case, a play. Another will find inspiration in the puppets and the play. The world moves in strange and surprising ways; charming and funny and sorrowful and wondrous.

Old men will weep, the poor will sing, small girls will brave the woods and climb trees. An owl, a wolf, a violet-eyed girl, a boy, and a king will find themselves on a peculiar path–sometimes apart. But “they belong together,” the clerk tells Spelhorst (and us). Their longings formed somewhere in the depths of themselves yet only truly realized together.

Few write longing better than Kate DiCamillo. Like the songs the puppets would like most to hear: DiCamillo gifts to us, as well, a story that will “break your heart and heal it, too.” There is no preparing you for it, but know that reading this softly to yourself or in the company of others will truly delight you. It’s a lovely weaving and unfolding–but then, it’s master storyteller Kate DiCamillo.

interior illustration by Julie Morstad from The Puppets of Spelhorst

Pairing DiCamillo with another skilled storyteller in Julie Morstad makes the reading experience even richer. Morstad offers her own tension and delight; her final image speaking so much wonder into the universe. She will emphasize the absurd and reinforce the connections characters find in each other. Morstad will complete the sensation that this is a timeless tale that will grace shelves for years to come.

In The Puppets of Spelhorst, DiCamillo and Morstad give us a tale that invites us to see and to imagine; to wonder and to grieve; and to consider a number of things—including the sharpness of a wolf’s teeth. What can you do when you close the book, but say softly to yourself: “I’ve been blessed.”

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recommended: anything Kate DiCamillo or Julie Morstad. For readers/listeners who like the melancholy, the bit of darkness or sadness; who like to imagine in a multitude of senses.