By Holly Black
This book is ingenious and entertaining. Welcome to the world of make believe where three friends spend all of their spare time in a created game from their own creative minds. They have played the game for years, but those around the three friends do not understand their enjoyment and attachment to each other. Zach, Poppy and Alice are in middle school and things are going to change. When Zach's dad moves back in with them and throws all of the action figures away, Zach has no choice. He can no longer participate in the game and is devastated. Instead of explaining his dilemma to his best friends he lies and claims that he no longer wants to play.
Poppy and Alice are left without their hero and the game falls apart until Poppy rescues the queen from her tower (a display case) and begins to have nightmares. She is told that she must return the queen to her home. She convinces Alice and Zach that they must help her and of course the three of them rush to do the queen's bidding. The problem is that they must catch a bus in the middle of the night and they leave with out telling any adults. Their quest becomes fraught with danger as they spend the night outside and learn to sail a boat on their route to East Liverpool. When they are caught in the library, they all believe that the quest is doomed, but they have a small window to find Eleanor's burial spot and put the queen to rest.
I really enjoyed this coming of age book. The tale is very well crafted and ripe with symbolism. I am giving this book a 4.75 out of 5 and believe it is appropriate for all students fifth grade and higher. It really is a book about learning to grow and find new interests and that sometimes it is okay to still play and things never stay the same forever! Definitely worth the read!
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