Echo North

Gr 7 Up—Echo has always known loneliness and rejection. The marks on her face, left by a rogue white wolf, brand her as an outcast and a demon. When her father marries a local widow who then bankrupts the family, he must travel to the city to find work. He disappears, and when Echo goes on a dangerous quest to find him, she discovers a world of magic and danger with the same white wolf who haunted her childhood. She is taken to an enchanted house deep in the woods where rooms must be sewn together daily and mirrors take her to new worlds she could never have imagined. As time passes, Echo realizes that she must make a decision if she wants to save the wolf and return to her family. This is a beautifully written retelling of several fairy tales, including "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" and "Tam Lin." The setting and characters are richly developed and the story moves at a leisurely pace so readers can enjoy all of the extra detail. The magic mirrors and haunted houses can sometimes feel overdone and trite, but Meyer weaves new life into these artifacts. Give this to fans of Melissa Bashardoust's Girls Made of Snow and Glass and Seanan McGuire's Down Among the Sticks and Bones.