Starred review from April 1, 2014
An original fantasy for middle-grade readers plaits together science, the supernatural and deep ecology. Lucy Darrington, 12 1/2, is a spunky girl who has escaped the stultifying atmosphere of a San Francisco finishing school to reunite with her beloved father, a scientist whose livelihood as a ghost clearer has diminished with the spreading, turn-of-the-20th-century popularity of electricity. Lucy arrives at the fictional city of Pentland--in an alternate Pacific Northwest where American settlements are embedded within lands still owned by indigenous peoples--only to find her father gone from his rooming house. Is his disappearance related to Rust, which is killing off kodok trees, source of income for many settlers and First Peoples? How does mythical, elusive dreamwood fit into the picture? Determined to find her father, Lucy embarks on a series of adventures, most of which include Pete Knightly, a slightly older boy whose parents were housing Lucy's father. The latter part of the book takes them deep into the Devil's Thumb peninsula, where gripping, even terrifying, moments are seasoned with humor and a slowly blossoming friendship. The carefully plotted twists and turns will keep readers absorbed to the end. A stunning debut with equal parts originality and heart. (Fantasy. 8-13)
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June 1, 2014
Gr 5-8-Lucy Darrington's adventures begin on a train as she flees a starched ladies finishing school to join her ghost-chasing father on the west coast of the vaguely Victorian, slightly steampunk American States. When Lucy arrives in the town of Saarthe, her father has disappeared and the community faces a terrible tree blight called Rust, which threatens the timber industry and everyone's livelihood. Lucy and her landlord's son, Peter, set out to find her father and Dreamwood, a legendary cure for Rust in a mystical region called Devil's Thumb. They face the menacing tests and traps of the carnivorous tree spirit His-sey-ak. The villain does not easily suffer greedy mortals to cross its land, and their death-defying expedition requires the combination of Lucy's research and steampunk gadgets with Peter's common sense. Mackey combines fantasy, ecology, and adventure in her debut novel, all to good effect. Vivid desciptions (such as a tree that digests blood and sea serpents that can be harnessed to speed a boat ride) capture the imagination at every turn. Dialogue and perilous situations nudge the story along at a steady clip, with the second half a breathless page turner. Dreamwood will please character-focused readers. Hand this to children who want an environmental adventure like Eva Ibbotson's Journey to the River Sea (Dutton, 2002) or a character-grounded speculation like Kenneth Oppel's Airborn (HarperCollins, 2004).-Caitlin Augusta, Stratford Library Association, CT
Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
June 1, 2014
Grades 5-8 Lucy Darrington, on the run from a terrifically boring and lonely boarding school, is searching for her father, a ghostologist, in this sharp new story. While trying to find him and root out what he was looking for, a secret cure-all called dreamwood, Lucy encounters all manner of menacing scares, from prospective outlaws on the train, to werewolf princesses in the secret world of the dreamwood. Along with her father's ghost-finding gadgets and her new friends Pete and Niwa, she faces delight and danger alike. Lucy is a bright, hopeful young lead; her new friend Pete is an adventurer at heart; and First Peoples' royal Niwa is sparkling and bold. The book has a steampunk feel to it, thanks to Lucy's father's inventions, and it would be a good option for young readers not quite ready for young-adult genre titles such as the Finishing School series, by Gail Carriger. Mackey's descriptions of the creatures and hazards of the dreamwood are gorgeous and lush, a fantastic setting for a fantastic tale.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)