The Bigfoot Files by Lindsay Eagar (review)

Twelve-year-old Miranda is a driven perfectionist with the detailed lists and school achievement record to show for it. Unfortunately, at home she has to deal with her cryptozoology-obsessed blogger mother, who happily takes Miranda out of school to run off after the newest Bigfoot sighting and would rather collect mystery scat than handle adult responsibilities. When Miranda decides that one last failed Bigfoot hunt with her mother will be her opportunity to prove just how foolish the cryptozoology enterprise is, however, their journey takes a surprising and fantastical turn. Eagar (author of The Hour of the Bees, BCCB 3/16) writes with compelling conviction of a girl who has turned away from the family passion and who's desperately struggling to bring order to a disorderly existence. The adventure that brings her back to her mother's approach to magic is certainly an epic one, and it's neatly crafted to put her mother into a world where she's suddenly hyper-competent. Nonetheless, the book never solves Miranda's serious practical dilemma of living with a Manic Pixie Dream Mom who's let the house fall into foreclosure and Miranda lose opportunities at school, so the reopening of Miranda's mind to wonder seems more consolation prize than triumph. The message of acceptance toward people (including the friend Miranda defensively shut out) is a sound one, though, and readers with sneaking suspicions about what lurks in the woods will relish the confirmation. DS