Wildwood

Image courtesy of
www.wildwoodchronicles.com

Wildwood
Colin Meloy
Carson Ellis
2011

The Summary

For twelve-year-old Prue McKeelm, the Impassable Wilderness - marked IW on every map she has viewed since she was a child - is a distant region of myth and legend and fairy tale, until, one day, her baby brother Mac is abducted by a murder of crows and dropped into the heart of the wildest parts of the woods.

Leaving the city of Portland and her parents behind, Prue and her unexpected ally, Curtis Mehlberg, enter Wildwood in search of baby Mac and become entangled in the wildest adventure of their lives.

The Good

Although Wildwood is written for a younger audience of readers, it possesses a depth and breadth of detail and beauty that it can appeal to both the young and the old and everyone who falls in between.

Full of detail, beautiful descriptions, wonderfully paced, and suitable complexity, Meloy and Ellis's novel is an unexpected gem.  The characters, more importantly, are absolutely delightful.  Genuine and flawed, they are easy to understand - easy to relate to - and fantastic to read about.  Their stories make the book a real and lasting treasure.

Personally, I also love the growth many of the characters undergo.  In particular, you can visibly chronicle the changes which Prue and Curtis experience as they travel through the realms of Wildwood, as they make new friends who help influence and shape them, and as they encounter newer and more ferocious dangers.

All in all, it is a phenomenal book.

The Bad

Although suitable for children, Wildwood does possess some violence and a small amount of strong language.  Otherwise, it's a safe bet you'll enjoy this book from cover to cover.

The Ugly

True evil does indeed appear to exist - and you get to witness it first hand.