Girlwood

May 19, 2008
Dean's first YA novel feels of-the-moment with its hopeful environmentalist message. At its start, Polly, the earthy, wistful 12-year-old protagonist, wakes up to find her teenage sister, wild child Bree, missing. The search goes on in the background as Polly and her friends fight to keep the bulldozers away from her beloved forest, a magical place where Bree could be hiding. Each chapter opens with a description of a medicinal and edible plant that Polly and her wise grandmother find in those woods. This premise sometimes bogs down with mentions of Bree's clichéd problems. But mostly Dean succeeds in creating a fast-paced story and sympathetic characters that eco-minded readers will appreciate. In their deep woods hideout, called Girlwood, Polly and pals uncover secrets about themselves and their world. “The forest could have been Fairyland... the dawn sky like a field of tulips, the new snow twinkling pink, green, and blue, as if even the ground they walked on was enchanted,” Dean writes in a typically lush passage. The best wrought element of the book, though, may not be in the forest at all—it might be the satisfying ending. Ages 12–up.

June 1, 2008
Gr 6-8-Twelve-year-old Polly is beset by trouble in her rural Idaho home. Her parents have divorced, and her punk and probably pregnant older sister, Bree, has run away. Her former friend's father is bulldozing the majestic larch trees of the old forest to "make the woods more accessible" to rich dwellers in a new gated community. But, Polly can see auras; understands the herbal teachings of her New Age grandmother, Baba; and uses her talents as best she can to forestall the inevitable destruction. Believing Bree is hiding in the forest, she leaves offerings throughout the winter. Herbal teachingssome dangerous, with warnings for would-be experimentersbegin each chapter. But Baba uses herbal teas to drug Polly's overwrought mother several times, and with few exceptions, adults behave abominably and stupidly. The natural details may ring true but the stereotypical narrow-mindedness of the rural community is unchallenged and the New Agey tone will put off many readers."Susan Hepler, formerly at Burgundy Farm Country Day School, Alexandria, VA"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2008
Deans intriguing first novel twines together a mystery about a girls runaway sibling with an Idaho communitys conservationdebate. When news arrives that plans for a subdivision threaten a beloved patch of wilderness, the grief 12-year-old Polly feels amplifies her anxiety for her troubled, missing sister, whoPolly believes has taken shelter in a grove within the threatened wilderness. Too many subplots crowd Deans storytelling, with the illness of Pollys herbalist grandmother adding unnecessary weight, and the unsatisfactorily (though not unhappily) resolved mysterystrand doesnt entirely work. Its Deans celebration of the earthy, living magic that exists everywhere, in everything, all the time that will lureYAs, who may be especially fascinated by the deepened experience of the world Polly gleans from her ability to glimpse others auras. Dean even includestraining instructions for readers hoping tosee auras, too.Offer this toreaders drawn by Wiccan spiritualitiesnever mentioned here by name, but which seem to inform Deans richly green-tinted storytelling, rooted in the connections between wild places and womanly strength.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)