FICTION

The Hidden Forest

illus. by Alan Baker. 128p. Green Writers. Jun. 2015. Tr $19.95. ISBN 9780990973348.
COPY ISBN
Gr 3–5—Adelaide is a 12-year-old girl who longs for adventures exploring other lands. Adelaide and her younger brother, Louis, are sent by their recently widowed mother to visit their grandparents on Nantucket. While Adelaide loves visiting her grandparents, she feels that their farm on the coast is too tame for her passions. In typical rebel fashion, she disobeys her grandmother and goes to a part of the farm that is off-limits. Unbeknownst to Adelaide, she upsets the Merqueen and sets off a chain of events that come to a head when she, her grandparents, a Native American islander, and a host of fantastic creatures must battle the Merqueen in order to win back her brother and, ultimately, save herself. This is a cute fantasy story, though light on substance and character development.
VERDICT A fine purchase for an elementary school library, best for readers who have graduated from chapter books, but perhaps are not quite ready for longer and more complex middle grade fiction.

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