The Feral Child

Gr 5–7—Maddy, 13, resents living with her Irish grandparents in the tiny village of Blarney after her parents' deaths, and doesn't believe in spirits, despite her Granda's warnings to stay away from the nearby castle because it's haunted by Irish faeries. She changes her mind after encountering a creepy looking boy on the castle grounds. On All Hallows Eve, Maddy witnesses him kidnap Stephen, her cute three-year-old neighbor, leaving a changeling in his place. No one believes her so she decides to rescue Stephen herself. Along with her hated cousins Danny and Roisin, Maddy unwittingly find herself transported into the faerie realm through a magical mound on the castle grounds. The cousins engage in a series of dangerous battles with nasty faeries, elves, and other Celtic spirits in their search for the kidnapped child. Maddy is initially an unlikable character; her grief over her parents' deaths makes her lash out in anger at everyone around her. The glossary of Celtic words included at the end of the book defines the gorgeous male faerie Maddy meets with the statement that, "Maddy's too young to be interested in kissing boys (yuck!)," a condescending sentiment some middle-grade readers might quibble with. The plot is not particularly original, but the Irish setting and focus on Celtic mythology makes this debut worth reading.—Sharon Rawlins, New Jersey State Library, Trenton