Writing as A. Deborah Baker, New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Seanan McGuire introduces readers to a world of talking trees and sarcastic owls, of dangerous mermaids and captivating queens in Over the Woodward Wall, an exceptional tale for readers who are young at heart. If you trust her you’ll never make it home… A 2021 Locus Award Finalist! Avery is an exceptional child. … 2021 Locus Award Finalist!
Avery is an exceptional child. Everything he does is precise, from the way he washes his face in the morning, to the way he completes his homework – without complaint, without fuss, without prompt.
Zib is also an exceptional child, because all children are, in their own way. But where everything Avery does and is can be measured, nothing Zib does can possibly be predicted, except for the fact that she can always be relied upon to be unpredictable.
They live on the same street.
They live in different worlds.
On an unplanned detour from home to school one morning, Avery and Zib find themselves climbing over a stone wall into the Up and Under – an impossible land filled with mystery, adventure and the strangest creatures.
And they must find themselves and each other if they are to also find their way out and back to their own lives.
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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DNF at 49%
I never thought I would DNF a Seanan McGuire book, but here we are.
This story is a little bit ‘Wizard of Oz’, and a little bit ‘Alice in Wonderland’…two stories I do NOT like. Never have.
Now, I absolutely adore McGuire’s ‘Wayward Children’ series because that feels original. While I may not love every world that’s been featured in that series, I still enjoy the story and the setting. I feel like in those books, everything, no matter how strange, has a purpose. It makes sense and just BELONGS there.
This book felt like a bad LSD trip (or so I’m guessing, as I’ve never actually done LSD). Nothing made sense, and I felt like things were thrown in willy-nilly as they popped into McGuire’s head. There’s weird yet fun and whimsical, and then there’s just weird. This story is mainly the latter…weird, with no real purpose.
Idk, maybe things would have felt more cohesive had I continued on the journey, but it just wasn’t bringing me any joy, and it became a chore to pick up and read. The writing itself is good, it’s just the story got a little too ‘out there’ for me. Time to move on.
Over the Woodward Wall puts me in mind of Alice in Wonderland (but less silly) and Labyrinth (not quite as dark). I make those comparisons, but honestly, I don’t know that I’ve ever read anything like this book. A very serious boy and a very un-serious girl take a detour to school and end up on an adventure. They meet impossible beings while traversing an improbable road, and despite their differences, come to rely on each other, and form a quiet bond that is very moving in its own way. I look forward to reading the next in the series.
This was really reminiscent to me of the Wayward Children series. It had the same whimsy, a fantasy land where children are turned into birds, in a way that reminded me of In an Absent Dream, which I loved. This felt like one my 8 year old would love too, so I’m planning to buy it after this library borrow.
This was such an interesting middle grade fantasy. I went into it without knowing anything about it. I was immediately pulled into the story. I just loved Avery, Zib and Crow Girl. I got a bit of Alice in Wonderland vibes which I loved.
Seanan McGuire recently wrote the very popular Middlegame and within that book were passages of a story about two children on a journey of self discovery written by A. Deborah Baker. Obviously that name is just a pseudonym and the author has now gone back to bring Avery and Zibs adventures to life in this middle grade book. They might start out as perfectly ordinary children with little in common but follow their travels as they journey to a better understanding of what really matters.
This story is just beginning and I’m intrigued to know how it will all end. The writing is exceptional and pulled me in with its whimsical style and at times I was reminded of The Water Babies and Through the Looking Glass. A delight to read and surely set to be a modern classic because it’s both haunting and beautiful.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair