My Diary from the Edge of the World

Starred review from September 14, 2015
Living in Camden, Maine, 12-year-old Gracie Lockwood is used to dragons, giants, and vampires. Even her grandmother, a witch living in the Smokey Mountains, keeps ghosts in her backyard. When a Dark Cloud, a harbinger of death, arrives at the family’s doorstep, Gracie, her siblings, their parents, and her orphaned friend Oliver escape their beloved town in a Winnebago. They embark on a journey across the country in search of the Extraordinary World, a place without supernatural beings, believed to be a myth by everyone except Gracie’s absent-minded father. Anderson (Tiger Lily) infuses the novel, written in the form of Gracie’s diary, with effervescent magic and harrowing adventure, and every enticing cliffhanger makes it difficult to put down. Gracie and family weather a soul-stealing genie, phantom ships, and a weak-kneed guardian angel named Virgil in their escape from death, only to discover the necessity in accepting one’s fate and the importance of family. Anderson leaves no stone unturned as she creates characters with zest and heart, as well as settings that encompass the best of all imaginary lands. Ages 8–12. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio.