Status
Available
Local notes
Fic And
Collection
Genres
Publication
Aladdin (2015), 432 pages
Description
Spirited, restless Gracie Lockwood, twelve, of Cliffden, Maine, living in a world where sasquatches, dragons, giants, and mermaids are common, keeps a diary of her family's journey in a used Winnebago as they seek The Extraordinary World in hopes of keeping her little brother, Sam, safe against all odds.
Awards
Young Hoosier Book Award (Nominee — Intermediate — 2018)
Maud Hart Lovelace Award (Nominee — 2019)
Kansas NEA Reading Circle Recommended Book (Junior — 2016)
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
432 p.; 5.5 inches
User reviews
LibraryThing member LongDogMom
I really liked this book. The author creates an alternate world where magic and supernatural creatures abound, where special clouds come for those who are dying, and where ghosts can drag people into the underworld. The story is written in diary form from the perspective of a young girl, Gracie,
So they buy a Winnebago and set off on a long and incredible journey, along with a a young orphan named Oliver. who Gracie has sort of befriended, to try to find the Extraordinary World that is said to lie on the Southern Edge of their flat and rectangular world. It's a journey that is filled with incredible adventures, as well as a lot of ups and downs that they all must work together to solve. By the journey's end, Gracie has learned a lot about herself and the people around her, as well as about life, love, death, family and friendship.
Dragons and sasquatch, ghosts and giants, trolls, sea monsters, a genie and a gorgon...even mermaids and the Great Kraken, this book has them all and more. I really enjoyed reading it and it left me with a smile on my face long after I'd finished it. Very creative and highly recommended.
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who has an older sister Millie, who she doesn't really get along with, and a younger brother named Sam who is very young and constantly sick. A death cloud is coming and the family believes that maybe they can find somewhere to go where the cloud can't find them...a world that is like theirs but different. A world where there is no magic and no supernatural creatures and no clouds of death to come and take you away. It's called The Extraordinary World and her father believes it exists, even though everyone in town thinks he's crazy. So they buy a Winnebago and set off on a long and incredible journey, along with a a young orphan named Oliver. who Gracie has sort of befriended, to try to find the Extraordinary World that is said to lie on the Southern Edge of their flat and rectangular world. It's a journey that is filled with incredible adventures, as well as a lot of ups and downs that they all must work together to solve. By the journey's end, Gracie has learned a lot about herself and the people around her, as well as about life, love, death, family and friendship.
Dragons and sasquatch, ghosts and giants, trolls, sea monsters, a genie and a gorgon...even mermaids and the Great Kraken, this book has them all and more. I really enjoyed reading it and it left me with a smile on my face long after I'd finished it. Very creative and highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member flying_monkeys
Gracie Lockwood is twelve, the middle child of three, and lives in Cliffden, Maine -- but not a Maine like ours. In her world there are dragons, giants, sasquatches, mermaids, witches, vampires, a wilderness that's reclaiming the earth from the west coast on, and Dark Clouds that come for people
Gracie was pretty funny; I loved how her mom said she flings her "loud personality at everyone and that one day it will poke somebody's eye out." And I thought the characters, for the most part, were easily distinguished from each other, yet somewhat stereotypical. Oliver was my favorite. My biggest nitpick was how loss/grief was handled so quickly and not given as much exploration as their discoveries on the road trip.
The world of this book is what I'll remember most. In particular, the mermaids: creatures that'll attack and eat just about anything that finds itself in their ocean. I think, had I been eleven or twelve when I read this, I would've loved it beyond belief.
3.5 stars
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when they die. (If a Cloud doesn't come for someone, they end up a ghost stuck in a limbo.) And now there's a Dark Cloud coming for Gracie's little brother, Sam. In an effort to evade the Cloud, the Lockwoods pack up in a Winnebago, in search of the legendary Extraordinary World, an adventure that takes them to the edge of their world.Gracie was pretty funny; I loved how her mom said she flings her "loud personality at everyone and that one day it will poke somebody's eye out." And I thought the characters, for the most part, were easily distinguished from each other, yet somewhat stereotypical. Oliver was my favorite. My biggest nitpick was how loss/grief was handled so quickly and not given as much exploration as their discoveries on the road trip.
The world of this book is what I'll remember most. In particular, the mermaids: creatures that'll attack and eat just about anything that finds itself in their ocean. I think, had I been eleven or twelve when I read this, I would've loved it beyond belief.
3.5 stars
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LibraryThing member ewyatt
Gracie and her family are disturbed when a Cloud shows up outside their house. A Cloud they believe has come to take the youngest in their family, Sam. They live in a version of earth that is flat, where creatures like dragons, fairies, and squatches roam the world.
Written as Gracie's diary, the
It's an interesting concept with likeable characters, but a bit of a slow go.
Written as Gracie's diary, the
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book traces the family's road trip and attempt to get to Edge of the World, what their dad believe to be a conduit between their planet and our earth. It's an interesting concept with likeable characters, but a bit of a slow go.
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LibraryThing member GretchenLynn
My 10 year old read this and enjoyed it and passed it on to me. I loved the idea that our world is an 'alternative world' to the one featured in the book, where witches and dragons and clouds that take you away are normal. And the family dynamics were great - putting an entire family in a camper to
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drive to the end of the world on a plan based on hope really brings out the best and the worst in everyone, and it was great to see them working together and also realistic in times and ways that their flaws were exposed. And, not a spoiler or anything, but the ending kind of caught me off guard (which I like, especially in a younger book where things tend to be a little predictable). Show Less
LibraryThing member MikeDI
Well thought out story. - Enjoyable and recommended.
LibraryThing member SusanGeiss
I loved Gracie and the world she lives in. Her spunky personality will draw in lots of readers! Fun and poignant, this book is a winner!
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Pages
432