The Wall and the Wing (review)

A merciless matron at the Hope House for the Homeless and Hopeless, a total inability to fly as most people do, and the increasing risk of losing Bug, her only friend, add up to a very hard life for Gurl. In her favor, Gurl is industrious and courageous, and she has a desirable skill: she can use her abilities as a "Wall" to disappear into backgrounds and thus steal merchandise for the orphanage matron. Add in a zipper-faced villain, hundreds of toy monkeys who steal children's secrets, and a centuries-old professor who offers effective if bumbling help (he regrets not helping the last Wall who came to him for assistance 100 years ago), and the stage is set for this rollicking adventure through a fantastical New York-like city. Ruby has crafted villains with complex motivations and deliciously creepy plans that begin with kidnapping Gurl and releasing poison balloons into the city, but the characters are silly and inept enough to relieve the tension; it's reassuringly clear from the get-go that things will end happily, and Ruby vamps up the celebratory pastiche by reuniting Gurl and Bug with long-long families. Occasional references to popular culture of yesteryear may puzzle middle-grade readers (all of the Punks bullying their way through the subway system are called Sid or Nancy), but Ibbotson fans and fantasy buffs will breeze right by those details and find much to enjoy in this high-spirited romp.