The Whisperwood Legacy

Gr 9 Up–Francesa (Frankie) Strauss has always cherished the time spent with her grandmother and extended family at Whisperwood, the popular theme park based on Der Flüsterwald, the fairy tale collection written by her great-great-great grandfather. And while verbal snipes and quarrels between family members always occurred, the reunion at the book’s opening is especially venomous due to the decision by Grandmother Strauss to close the park 18 months earlier. Having been cut off from the largesse the park afforded, Frankie’s mother and uncles argue over wresting control from Grandmother Strauss, which turns more sinister when the family matriarch goes missing. Frankie enlists the assistance of the groundskeeper Jem to locate her grandmother, and what they discover is deeper and more sinister than any written fairy tale. The train wreck of Strauss family dynamics makes for an engaging opening, with clever one-liners and sardonic humor peppered throughout. Schulte is also effective in building tension and stakes: early hints at unnatural occurrences at the park clue the reader into the fact that Der Flüsterwald might be more than just stories in a book. But as the story develops, flashbacks, unnatural magic, and changing goals get muddied together, making the central narrative harder to follow. The book’s resolution is a little uneven, though Frankie’s overall growth as a character is satisfying. The presence of strong language and underage drinking makes this best for a high school collection.