by Colin Meloy
Flap Copy description:
Prue McKeel's life is ordinary. At least until her baby brother is abducted by a murder of crows. And then things get really weird. You see, on every map of Portland, Oregon, there is a big splotch of green on the edge of the city labeled "I.W." This stands for "Impassable Wilderness." No one's ever gone in - or at least returned to tell of it.
And this is where the crows take her brother.
So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval, a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much bigger as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness.
A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.
My thoughts:
Colin Meloy's debut novel, Wildwood, is a wonderful, whimsical tale set in a secret world inspired by Forest Park, in Portland, Oregon. Mr. Meloy's writing is imaginative and inventive; Carson Ellis' illustrations are exquisite. I thoroughly enjoyed this first book in The Wildwood Chronicles! I would highly recommend this novel to readers from the age of nine and up.
Check out the Wildwood website - there is a great video of Colin Meloy, and the illustrator, Carson Ellis:
http://www.wildwoodchronicles.com/
(Note: This upper MG fantasy/adventure does include battle scenes where anthropomorphic creatures and humans are killed. If your child is mature enough for the later Harry Potter books - they'll enjoy this whimsical tale!)
