A Corner of White

May 13, 2013
Two worlds coexist in this fascinating first book in Moriarty's Colors of Madeleine series. Bright, enigmatic 14-year-old Madeleine has moved to Cambridge, England, with her mother, where she receives home schooling from a small group of eccentric teachers, along with friends Jack and Belle. Madeleine accidentally makes contact with the fantastical Kingdom of Cello when she discovers a message poking out of a broken parking meter. She begins a written correspondence with 15-year-old Elliott, a boy living in the Cellian farming town of Bonfire, where Colors, "a kind of rogue subclass of the colors that we see," are known to attack and kill (Elliott's father was the alleged victim of a "Purple"), and the arrival of the fabled "Butterfly Child" is an auspicious sign. As the narrative alternates between Cello and Cambridge, some readers may be frustrated by the slow unfolding of events, yet moments of sharp observation, startling invention, and delightfully comic dialogue confirm Moriarty as a genre-bending author who gracefully weaves metaphysical questions into outwardly ordinary circumstances. Ages 12âup. Agent: Jill Grinberg Literary Management.

Starred review from March 1, 2013
Another one of a kind from the inimitable Moriarty, this time, a barely epistolary fantasy series opener unlike anything else out there. Fourteen-year-old Madeleine lives in Cambridge, England, with her zany mother in uncertain circumstances, having run away from their fabulously privileged international existence. Meanwhile, Elliot lives in Bonfire, The Farms, Cello, a parallel reality that might be the real fairyland (although that's never explicitly stated, and this version seems utterly unlike most versions of fairyland). Through a crack between their worlds, they begin exchanging letters, although more of the novel is about one or the other of these two appealing characters than about their moments of intersection. Elliot wants to find his father, who disappeared mysteriously, while Madeleine wants to be found by hers and is also navigating friendship and her mother's deteriorating health. Moriarty's trademark wit and whimsy are on full display, with zingy dialogue that feels right if not entirely realistic and bizarre characters living unexpected lives that manage to be mundane and delightful at the same time. By the end, Madeleine's story feels somewhat resolved, but Elliot's has turned an unexpected corner that will bring their worlds much closer and bring readers more mystery and humor in the next volume. Quirky, charming, funny, sad: another winner from this always-surprising author. (Fantasy. 12 & up)

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Starred review from May 1, 2013

Gr 6-9-In this lovely fantasy, two stories run parallel. Fourteen-year-old Madeleine lives in Cambridge, England, where she is adjusting to life without her dad. Elliot lives in the Kingdom of Cello, where his search for his dad is postponed by the deplorable state of crops at home. If it were not for the tiny portal in a parking meter, Madeleine and Elliot would not have started writing letters back and forth. The story is told through the teens' communications and an omniscient narrator. This mix allows readers to know Madeleine and Elliot and their problems intimately, but it also gives them an aerial view of events, helps them meet the richly drawn secondary characters, and allows them to see the ingenious way in which the protagonists' lives ultimately combine. Attacks by "Colors," "living organisms: a kind of rogue subclass of the colors that we see when we look at a red apple or blue sky" keep the townspeople on edge, and Elliot wonders if his dad were killed during one of them. Mysteries abound. Is Madeleine's mom's strange behavior due to her inability to cope with poverty, or is something else going on? Why doesn't Madeleine's dad answer her letter, and is she somehow to blame for his absence? Ultimately, this is a story of two teenagers helping each other figure out their places in their respective worlds.-Jennifer Prince, Buncombe County Public Libraries, NC

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2013
Grades 7-11 Australian writer Moriarty's marvelously original fantasy is quirky and clever, exploring links between present-day Cambridge, England, and the Kingdom of Cello, where colors attack, seasons roam unpredictably, and the Butterfly Child can save a community. Fourteen-year-old homeschooled Madeleine lives with her mother in an attic flat in Cambridge, adjusting to near poverty after they ran from a fabulously wealthy jet-setting life with Madeleine's emotionally distant father. Meanwhile, 15-year-old Elliot is trying to find his father, whose suspicious disappearance has sparked rumors and more in their farming community. Elliot and Madeleine meet when Elliot puts a letter into a crack in a concrete sculptureMadeleine sees the corner of white peeking out from the foot of a parking meter. Their correspondence provides rich character development in a plot with a dizzying number of developments. Moriarty captures the proud iconoclasm of many homeschoolers and does not shy away from tenderness and poignancy as both Madeleine and Elliot confront difficult family truths. Expect readers to flock to Moriarty's name and stay for the whole (projected) Colors of Madeleine trilogy. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Moriarty (The Year of Secret Assignments, 2004) is hugely popular and demand for her latest should be high.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)