Wildwood

July 18, 2011
Meloy, the lead singer of the band the Decemberists, delves into middle-grade fiction with a story that pairs classic adventure novel tropes with cool, disaffected prose. The book opens as 12-year-old Prue McKeel loses her baby brother to a murder of crows, and sets off to rescue him from the Impassable Wilderness, a strange country alongside Portland, Ore., (where the actual Forest Park lies). Her classmate Curtis tags along, and the two are soon separated. Prue takes refuge with the postmaster in his delivery van, while Curtis is captured, then suddenly made an officer in an army of talking coyotes led by the beautiful and intimidating Dowager Governess. It becomes apparent that Prue and Curtis have landed on opposite sides in a warâand neither side may be right. Without a good side to cheer for (disappointments and betrayals abound), the story lacks a strong emotional center, and its preoccupations with bureaucracy, protocol, and gray-shaded moral dilemmas, coupled with the book's length, make this slow going. Ellis's spot art, not all seen by PW, is characteristically crisp and formal, further lending the story a detached quality. Ages 8â12.

December 1, 2011

Gr 4-7-As a young girl, Prue McKeel first noticed the Impassable Wilderness on her father's map of Portland. When Mac, her baby brother, is abducted by crows and taken there, Prue and her friend Curtis bravely set out and discover Wildwood. Curtis is captured by coyote soldiers, and the bureaucratic government of South Wood refuses to help Prue. Curtis meets the Dowager Governess, former Governess of South Wood, who becomes his enemy once he discovers her sinister plan to sacrifice Mac to the Ivy. Prue, directed by Owl Rex, leader of the Avians, goes to North Wood to speak to the mystics. Prue and Curtis must unite the rest of Wildwood against the Dowager Governess to save Mac and all of Wildwood. Colin Meloy's fantasy (Harper 2011) creates a striking new world peopled by unique and fascinating human and animal characters. Amanda Plummer perfectly voices the untamable quality of the creatures of Wildwood and the tenacity of Prue. Meloy has created a tale that combines fantasy, an eco-fable, and a coming-of-age story. Have the book available so listeners can peruse Carson Ellis's fantastic illustrations that perfectly capture Meloy's fantasy world. Listeners will eagerly await the sequel. Give this to fans of John Stephens's The Emerald Atlas and Trenton Lee Stewart's The Mysterious Benedict Society.-Sarah Flood, Breckinridge County Public Library, Hardinsburg, KY

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