The Wren Hunt

Gr 7 Up—Wren, an orphan raised in a community of augurs by her grandfather, is encouraged to stop the yearly wren hunt. But she doesn't. Readers live through the excruciating hunt with Wren as she hides in the ruin of a cottage once inhabited by Arabella de Courcy, an artist who had fallen in love with a tree man and is eventually killed by him. Epigraphs, perhaps from de Courcy's diary, are interwoven into Wren's story in such a subtle way that one doesn't immediately realize their significance. After the bloodshed of the hunt, Wren goes home in time to be chosen to spy on the Harkness Foundation, the epicenter of the judges, who are apparently bent on destroying the augurs. A slow-moving story at first, the novel picks up the pace with the introduction of Tarc, the head of security for the judges, and his forbidden and mutual attraction to Wren. What will happen when he discovers Wren's true mission and identity? Among increasingly blurry allegiances, the ending is a shocker and entirely satisfying. The fantastical work is reminiscent of Maggie Stiefvater's "Raven Cycle," with its search for a Welsh king in a Latin-speaking forest, and Susan Cooper's "The Dark Is Rising" series. Watson brings a deep and visceral voice to old stories as well as an authentic and modern urban sensibility, making this a highly stylized read.