Molly & Pim and the Millions of Stars by Martine Murray (review)

Ten-year-old Molly has always wanted her dreamy, crunchy-granola mother to change a bit, but she certainly didn’t want her to transform into a tree. That’s exactly what happens, though, after Mama drinks one of her own homemade potions, and now Molly’s left to fend for herself while she scours through Mama’s notebooks to see if she can find a way to reverse the effect. There’s really no one Molly can ask for help: her best friend Ellen would be scared speechless by the weirdness of it all, and Molly’s grumpy neighbors are more likely to take a chainsaw to the tree than give any assistance. A weird kid at school, Pim, might be a possible resource, and when Molly tells him her dilemma, he’s game to find a solution. The aloof third-person narration and the languid prose give the story a folkloric feel, but they also make the pace drag, especially when the action becomes fluff that merely fills in the spaces between didactic adages. Still, Molly makes a sweet heroine, and there’s a satisfying sense of whimsy to her character; the scene of her mother’s return is both magical and triumphant. Young readers with a sentimental streak, especially those with a preference for fairy tales, may therefore enjoy this mother-daughter story.