3 Books - 3 Reviews

NetGalley sent me three e-galleys to read; The Wonderling by Mira Bartok, The Explorer by Katherine Rundell, and The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken.  I finished Prosper's story today.

 I haven't figured out how to download e-galleys onto my tablet so I have to use my first-generation Nook to read them.  This usually isn't much of a problem.  Today, though, when I got to the end of The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding, I thought my old Nook was broken.  I kept trying to get to the next page.  Poke.  Poke.  NO. NEXT. PAGE.  Nope.  Not there.

This is NOT Prosper!

Prosper is the descendant of Honor Redding, the founder of Redhood, a small prosperous village near Cape Cod.  His family dominates everything there.  He, however, doesn't do well in anything.  His twin sister, Prudence, is clever, well-liked and has recently been cured of a life-threatening heart ailment.  Prosper has been tricked, bullied, punished by everyone he has ever met, except his parents and his sister.  The only thing he does well is draw and his family sees no profit in that.

On the night of the Redhood's Founder's Day, the entire Redding family gathers at Grandmother's house.  This year, however, they have something special in store for Prosper and Prue - something in the forbidden basement, something that involves an old book, a fire and a sharp silver blade. 

The rest of the book takes place in Salem, MA.  Around Halloween.  Mostly at night.   There better be a sequel, and soon. 'Nuff said.


The Wonderling by Mira Bartok follows a small orphaned fox "groundling" from a dismal Dickensian

What's with all the foxes?

poor house type orphanage to a town where groundlings are oppressed and mistreated.  An equally Dickensian character takes our hero, who has no name but the one his only friend gave him - Arthur -, under his "wing".  (The character is a rat groundling - no wings.)

Arthur discovers the orphan mistress's evil plan and must fight to save groundlings, humans, EVERYONE from a horrible fate - the death of music and dreams.  Luckily, he meets a lot of heroic groundlings and humans - some are just adorable  - who want to help him. 

Bartok's language is almost poetic as she describes the forest, the city, and the dismal orphanage and the underground dungeons that the groundlings end up in. 
A sequel is in order.


Katherine Rundell never disappoints me.  In The Explorer, four children are stranded in the Amazon Jungle when the pilot of the plane has a heart attack.  Except for Lila and her little brother Max, they are strangers, all sent to Manaus for various reasons.  Fred, the oldest and eventually the leader, is visiting a cousin of his widowed father.  Con, a blonde belle, appears to be the spoiled brat of wealthy parents.  Lila and Max's parents are research scientists sending the children to the city where they will be educated, safely.  Ha!

Adding a five-year-old to what might be just a kids-against-nature survival story is a great idea.  Max complicates everything, from learning to build fires, to finding food.  He also notices something that leads them all to make the most astonishing discovery.

The discovery leads them to a most enchanting place, inhabited by a frightening, baffling secret. 

The book has that lightness that Rundell brings to everything, - a joy, and a fear that is infused with excitement and determination!  And then, there is a teensy weensy bit of inspiration tossed in there for good measure.  You might even cheer at the end.  I did.