[alert variation=”alert-info”]Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Formats: Paperback, eBook, Kindle, Audiobook, Audible
Purchase: Powell’s | Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | iBooks[/alert]
Under Wildwood, the second in the middle reader Wildwood series from The Decemberists’ frontman Colin Meloy and with illustrations by Carson Ellis, continues the adventures of seventh-grader Prue and her school friend Curtis as they do what no other Portlanders can: they can enter, explore, and converse with the inhabitants of what they know as The Impassable Wilderness. It is otherwise known to the people and various talking animals who live there as Wildwood, and to real-world folk (us readers) as Forest Park. In the first novel, Prue and Curtis become embroiled in a struggle to save Wildwood from an evil Governess, who planned to sacrifice Prue’s baby brother to the (invasive) ivy in Wildwood, which would push the ivy to take control of and destroy the entire landscape, essentially ruining the homes of all the native inhabitants. Ecological lessons aside, they win the day, but their time in Wildwood away from their families continues. Prue and Curtis, along with the Bandits and their King Brendan, Septimus the Rat, and scores of other quirky characters, must now save Wildwood from a Portland industrialist bent on ravaging its natural resources. Through lyrical prose and folksy illustrations giving literary life to a beautiful Pacific Northwest landscape, Meloy and Ellis have created an exciting world full of adventure for young readers. Under Wildwood is now in paperback, while the third in the series, Wildwood Imperium, was released in February 2014.
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