Asterwood

Gr 4-7–In this absorbing, and disturbing, but not entirely successful contemporary fantasy debut, 10-year-old Madelyn and her cat Dots stumble into a parallel world called Asterwood in the woods behind her Derry, NH, farmhouse. She’s been told by her single father that she was adopted, and he never knew her mother. Madelyn’s shocked when the violet-eyed kids she meets, called New Hopefuls, inform her she was born in Asterwood, but was stolen as a baby from her mother by her father. The children get their violet eyes from the forest’s magical Violet Aspen trees. The trees are dying because inhabitants called Tree Eaters are over-harvesting them to take all their magical power for themselves. Madelyn believes she’s destined to save the forest, aided by her New Hopeful friends and some faeries. Together, they battle a monstrous cannibal queen and her followers who are killing and eating the New Hopefuls for their magic. This story starts cozily but ratchets up into a much darker fantasy that ends too tidily and not too believably. Still, Madelyn’s need for the mother she never knew is relatable. Her friendship with several fierce, idealistic New Hopeful girls will resonate with readers, as does her personal growth in acknowledging her mistakes and learning to accept herself as she is. The book also explores abandonment, love, secrets, bullying, forgiveness, and mental illness.