CHARACTER COUNTS: In Darkling Wood

By Emma Carroll

Delacorte Press, 2017. Fiction. 231 p.

Fifteen-year-old Alice lives in England with her mother and her younger brother Theo. When a perfectly matched heart becomes available for Theo's desperately needed transplant, Alice must leave her home and friends to stay with a grandmother who she's never met. It's bad enough that gruff Grandma Nell can't cook worth a darn, but the fact that she lives in an old countryside cottage with sketchy cell service and no internet connection just makes Alice's separation from her mom and Theo seem more complete.

Nell complicates things further with her intent to cut down the woods around her cottage, and the town neighbors are up in arms, making Alice a very unpopular new schoolmate. With worrying about her brother, and an unusual new friend trying to convince her that the woods are actually filled with fairies, sensible Alice struggles with the discovery that things are not always exactly what they seem...both in the forest and in her family. Old letters written by a young girl to her brother during WWI that are threaded through the narrative combined with Alice's technological isolation add to a sense of timelessness with magical results. Alice develops strength of character in this beautiful story as she finds the courage to form her own opinions and make decisions independent of pressure from both friends and family.

Comments

Funny Farm by Mark Teague 2009

There are things I liked about Mark Teague's newest book, Funny Farm , and things I didn't like. Where should I start? I'll do the "didn'ts" first. The illustrations show animals personified. Well, some of the animals are. The main characters, Edward, and his farm family relatives, all dogs, are humanized. They stand upright, do farm chores, eat at a table, wear clothes, knit (yes, with paws) and sleep in beds. Most everybody else on and around the farm, who are also animals, act like animals. They are outside, roll in mud, live in the barn, and require care from their owners. It struck me the most on the page spread where there are pigs playing in puddle in the rain and Edward, a black and white boxer, watches from inside the house. I thought "You're a dog! Go play with them!" But, alas, he can't, seeing as how he goes through his entire visit to the farm wearing a suit and red bow tie. Another picture that bothered me was the maple syrup pa...

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester 2008

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Review: Super Boba Cafe

Super Boba Café By Nidhi Chanani New York: Amulet Books, 2023. Comics. 215 pages. 14-year-old Aria is excited to spend her summer in San Francisco getting quality time with her Nainai. She loves helping at her grandmother's Super Boba Café. But she can't help but notice that her grandmother is acting strange and secretive. She refuses to let Aria into the kitchen at all and she disappears at the same time each night without telling Aria where she goes. Meanwhile, Aria is eager to drum up more business for Super Boba Café. She gets a major windfall when the shop cat, Bao, surprises them by having kittens, and Aria realizes this is a major social media opportunity. She knows this will help Nainai's shop, but she is apprehensive to get back on social media after a terrible cyberbullying experience she had back home. As the shop starts to get busier, Nainai is more and more anxious about her secret project. This prompts Aria to investigate with help from her Nainai's neighb...

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