genre: middle grade
When Michael moves into his new house, he's immediately drawn to the run down garage (as any 10 year old boy would be). When he finally dares to go in and explore, what he finds (is it man or beast or some strange combination?) will change everything about the way he looks at the world. Weaving through this plot is Michael's new friendship with the William Blake-loving Mina and his tiny baby sister who is clinging precariously to life.
This book reads like poetry half the time. Mina's way of looking at the world is so fresh and deep, she helps Michael to look beyond his schoolbook learning and really LOOK at the natural world and its possibilities. She has a bit of that superior edge that some homeschoolers have, but Almond carefully crafts her personality in such a way that you respect her and her mother's teaching, and almost yearn for that kind of education. I love the British tone of the writing,their turns of phrase and the village-y feel of where Michael lives. The plot with the baby sister is so tenderly played out, I think this is a beautiful, beautiful piece of work.
book 2 of 8 for the Orbis Terrarum Challenge
3 comments:
ooo, sounds like an interesting read, especially the character Mina. Very cool :)
Great book, glad you enjoyed!
This was an optional book to read in my YA lit class, but I chose something else at the time. Glad to hear this one would be worth going back to.
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