The first Pete Hautman book I read was Slider, a humorous realistic middle grade novel about a boy and a competitive pizza eating contest. So when I stumbled upon another book by Hautman, I jumped on requesting it from NetGalley! Little did I know that I would be taken on a ride to a new world called Otherwood...
Creative, whimsical, and utterly mind-blowing! Otherwood by Pete Hautman brings to life the
story of best friends Stuey and Elly Rose.
Upon learning that they have the same birthday and the same secret place
in the woods, they declare themselves soul mates. The two friends have an unbreakable bond and
play in the deadfall where their imaginations run free. When Elly mysteriously vanishes right in
front of Stuey, he’s not sure what to think.
And when no one believes what Stuey saw, he begins to believe that all
of his grandfather’s ghost stories of the forest and his ramblings about alternate
realities are true. Stuey is drawn to
their secret place and to his surprise, he and Elly can see each other. Elly seems to be living in another world, the
same but different. In Elly’s world,
Stuey is the one that is missing. How
did their worlds split apart? And most
importantly, how can they bring it back together?
I loved the imagination of this book! While the overall story focuses on two
different worlds on the same timeline, the book is also a coming-of-age
story. Both Stuey and Elly come to terms
with the loss of a friend, but also grapple with growing up and no longer playing
make-believe.
The book also takes a peek into family feuds and how those feuds affect one generation after another.
A unique story of parallel universes and converging realities, Otherwood is a book I’d recommend to middle grade readers who also enjoyed A Wrinkle in Time. I hope that you will enjoy this book as much as I did!
"As soon as she turned her back on the deadfall, Elly felt two conflicting emotions: sadness and relief. It was the same way she'd felt three years ago when her real cat, Meowster, died after several weeks of piteous meowing. Instead of a new cat, her mom had given her Grimpus. Now it was Grimpy's time, and the castle's time. It seemed only right that they should go together."
"The deadfall felt different now. Maybe Deshan was right. Magic was for little kids."
"The deadfall felt different now. Maybe Deshan was right. Magic was for little kids."
The book also takes a peek into family feuds and how those feuds affect one generation after another.
"Pop never finished high school. He fought his way up from nothing, and sometimes he cut corners. He resented educated people like Rosen, and Rosen had no respect for my dad or what he'd accomplished. It was like they came from different worlds, and neither one of them was willing to accept the other. I think those two men hated each other so bad they just hated themselves out of existence."
"... My history is your history, and your history is Stuey's history... We're all connected. My father might be gone, but he left something of himself behind. You spend enough time out in those woods, you'll see him."
"... My history is your history, and your history is Stuey's history... We're all connected. My father might be gone, but he left something of himself behind. You spend enough time out in those woods, you'll see him."
A unique story of parallel universes and converging realities, Otherwood is a book I’d recommend to middle grade readers who also enjoyed A Wrinkle in Time. I hope that you will enjoy this book as much as I did!
A special thank you to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for
allowing me to read this E-ARC. It’s definitely
one I enjoyed and will never forget!
-->
No comments:
Post a Comment