The Green Children of Woolpit

June 1, 2019
Agnes' hopes for adventures beyond her little village of Woolpit come terrifyingly true. Raised by her loving, adoptive ma and da after being left in their cottage by a mysterious woman, Agnes chafes at the ordinariness of peasant life. Her late, beloved grandmother filled her eager imagination with stories of Those Good People of the Otherworld, but her only real human friend, Glory, is growing up and becoming impatient with Agnes' dreamy ways. Fortunately, she has Mother, her loyal pig, for company. When Agnes hears crying from the wolf pits one harvest day, she discovers two green children, a boy and a girl, who speak a strange tongue. Persuaded that they have come to return her to her true parents, the king and queen of the fairies, Agnes is initially desperate to believe that she is "finally the girl in the story." But her dreams are soon dashed, and she must remember all she learned from Granny if she is to save herself. The settings--both on Earth and below--are rendered with skill and care, but most characters are not well developed, resulting in a story with less emotional impact than might be expected. Initially heavy in internal monologue, it picks up considerably in pace in the second half. Human characters, when not green, default to white; two particularly unpleasant fairies have brown skin. For patient readers, a medieval English legend cleverly infused with the supernatural. (historical note) (Fantasy. 10-14)

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 7, 2019

Gr 5 Up-People in her village think foundling Agnes Walter is a liar: she sees and hears things other people can't, and won't stop talking about them-like the cries of two strange children trapped in a nearby pit. Agnes doesn't know that she's the target of a plot by Those Good People, and specifically by Senna, a girl trapped in the fairy realm for a thousand years and desperate to get out, even if the price is Agnes's freedom. When the green children are rescued, Agnes is lured into the Otherworldly Kingdom where she learns both the truth of her own birth, and the price of her escape back to her adopted home. Will she have the wits and courage to set herself free? Although the story begins slowly, the climax is fraught with excitement and peril. Coats skillfully weaves in facts about the Fair Folk, Agnes's parents, and the coming of the Romans to Britain in this tale that hearkens back to a medieval story first recorded by monks. The extremely unfortunate cover art (which will likely appeal to third graders rather than its intended audience) will make this a hard sell to middle or high school fantasy readers, but those who move past the artwork, and Agnes's single-minded whining at the beginning, will be well rewarded. VERDICT Purchase where there's a demand for standalone fantasy.-Elizabeth Friend, Wester Middle School, TX

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.