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Available
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Publication
Tordotcom (2020), 197 pages
Description
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.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba
A. Deborah Baker is a pen a name for Seanan Mcguire - I'm bringing this up because I'll be make comparisons to her other works in this review.
First, its a really well written modern fairy tale - two kids end up in a fantasy world together and need to depend on each other to survive. Its a fairly
My biggest issue with this book is it doesn't really cover any new ground. Ms. Mcguire writes the same stories over and over again. Its in a well written package with a beautiful setting - but its always a few kids whose world needs expanding, and they end up in a world fantasy world where they need to work together and ultimately they will succeed. There will be growth and understanding. Its all predictable (but only if you are familiar with the author)
And last, this isn't a standalone story. Which is a bit annoying, since I was hoping for a nice conclusion.
So, to sum up - it really is a well written book. But fairly derivative if you are familiar with the author.
First, its a really well written modern fairy tale - two kids end up in a fantasy world together and need to depend on each other to survive. Its a fairly
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standard nonsensical world. There are people who help, people who hinder, and people who harm, and they aren't always known.My biggest issue with this book is it doesn't really cover any new ground. Ms. Mcguire writes the same stories over and over again. Its in a well written package with a beautiful setting - but its always a few kids whose world needs expanding, and they end up in a world fantasy world where they need to work together and ultimately they will succeed. There will be growth and understanding. Its all predictable (but only if you are familiar with the author)
And last, this isn't a standalone story. Which is a bit annoying, since I was hoping for a nice conclusion.
So, to sum up - it really is a well written book. But fairly derivative if you are familiar with the author.
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LibraryThing member KittyCunningham
Mira Grant writes great horror stories. Seanan McGuire writes excellent fantasy. A. Deborah Baker writes excellent YA fantasy.
Not all YA stories work for older readers. This does.
Not all YA stories work for older readers. This does.
LibraryThing member jennybeast
I did know that this was a Seanan Maguire. I didn't know about the connection to Middlegame. I don't think it would change my feelings about the book -- I wanted to like it, and in the past I have very much enjoyed books like The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and
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Maguire's own Wayward Children series and Alice and Oz and you'd think that would make this appealing, but no. It feels like a story that wants a framework outside itself. It feels like a story that ought to have a point more profound than general unfairness and opposing personalities and it just isn't there. Oh well. I like the idea of Tarot kingdoms and giant brightly colored owls. I have a huge fondness for Crow Girls (even ones that aren't as endearing as De Lint's), so maybe I'll try the next book and see if it improves. Show Less
LibraryThing member fred_mouse
I have nothing coherent to say about this book. The best that I can do is that I felt like I was reading a modernised and less humourous version of Norman Juster's *The Phantom Tollbooth*
I wanted a different ending. I wasn't expecting one, but I did kind of hope that it would be tidy and
I wanted a different ending. I wasn't expecting one, but I did kind of hope that it would be tidy and
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uncomplicated. I was also 'argh, how will I wait for book two', which promptly turned up for me, so off to read that! Show Less
LibraryThing member Glennis.LeBlanc
This is a book that featured in another book written by the same author. This is a pen name for Seanan McGuire and the book was mentioned quite a bit in Middlegame. Two quite different children who live separate lives but live on the same street are both detoured to cross a stone wall on their way
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
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to their separate schools one day. Zib is more of a free spirt and Avery is a pressed shirt kind of kid. But they bond on their journey to the Impossible City to be able to return home. This is a middle grade fantasy that the reader doesn’t need to have read anything before it. I’ll keep my eye out for the next one and maybe reread Middlegame to remind myself of how much of this book did show up in it besides the title. Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
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LibraryThing member Andy5185
SO fun! I want more of this for sure.
LibraryThing member catseyegreen
I understand that this is a companion piece to another novel but I enjoyed it own it's own merits. This is a Alice-like adventure for 2 very different children who find themselves thrown together in a nonsense world of talking owls, an improbable road and crow girls.
Language
Original publication date
2020-10