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Reviewed by:
  • Grayling’s Song by Karen Cushman
  • April Spisak
Cushman, Karen Grayling’s Song. Clarion, 2016 [224p]
ISBN 978-0-544-30180-1 $16.99
Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 4-6

Grayling is content to be background to her effusive mother, the local wise woman and healer, until her mother is literally rooted to the ground by some evil force that is slowly turning her into a tree. Off Grayling goes, with great reluctance and armed with only a small store of potions that are quickly eaten by a mouse, into the wider world to find magical folk who can fix her mother. At least the now-magical mouse tags along as company, and Grayling’s gathering song works to gain her a few more allies. The group works well as a whole, but Cushman also effectively makes them stand out as individuals, and readers will likely care deeply about all of them by the end. The language gives the book the atmospheric flavor of historical fiction, and the land itself is wild and mysterious, exactly the type of place where magic could happen, children could wander around trying to fix the world, and tiny mice could shapeshift into mighty protectors if fed the right potion. Cushman offers a complete story with clear resolutions, a memorably complex villain, and a sweet protagonist who becomes far more than background by the end; fantasy buffs and Cushman fans alike will be well pleased.

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