Wildwood (The Wildwood Chronicles #1)

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 war--and 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 8-12. (Sept.)

Gr 3-7--When 12-year-old Prue is entrusted with her baby brother for the day, the last thing she expects is that he will be abducted by a murder of crows and taken into the Impassible Wilderness across the river from her home in Portland, OR. Prue does the only thing that she can, which is to head across the railroad bridge to bring Mac back. She is followed by a schoolmate whom she reluctantly takes on as a partner. They soon discover that they are the only humans from the "Outside." Curtis is abducted by coyote soldiers, and Prue soon finds herself between warring factions--the Dowager Governess, who is marshaling her coyote troops in North Wood to take back her throne in Southwood, and the rest of Wildwood. Meloy deftly moves back and forth between Prue's attempts to get help and Curtis's adventures with the Governess, who is not what she initially seems, and uses the parallel stories to create a constant forward motion that will keep readers glued to the page. From its attention-grabbing opening to the final revelations of Prue's true relationship to Wildwood, this book provides an emotional experience. Meloy has an immediately recognizable verbal style and creates a fully realized fantasy world in what is essentially a Portland child's backyard. It is peopled with both animal and human characters with whom readers will identify and grow to love. Ellis's illustrations perfectly capture the original world and contribute to the feel of an instant timeless classic. Further adventures in Wildwood cannot come quickly enough.--Tim Wadham, St. Louis County Library, MO