Wildwood / Coling Meloy / 541 pages

Decemberist Colin Meloy writes an intriguing fantasy that takes place outside of Portland, Oregon.  His wife, Carson Ellis, illustrates the book with wonderful drawings and a few color plates.  Prue and her friend Curtis must enter the Impassable Wilderness to rescue Prue's little brother who was kidnapped by a murder of crows and is about to be sacrificed by an evil, manipulative dowager governess.  In this book animals can talk, birds rule a portion Wildwood, mystics commune with nature, and bureaucrats make a mess of things.  There are good guys and bad guys, war and battle, magic and adventure, courage and teamwork, and a somewhat surprising ending.  Of course the 7th grade "outsiders" play a major role to save the day.  For some reason, Indiana Jones kept popping into my mind because the kids use contemporary language and talk like kids in a fantasy magical setting.  Who will read this...hmmm...grades 5 & up...maybe Warriors fans, maybe Chronicles of Narnia readers, maybe devotees of Grimm's fairy tales.  Hoping for more adventures in the Wildwood....