Bound To Stay Bound

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Booklist - 08/01/2011 *Starred Review* When his parents’ marriage unravels, Jack is sent from San Francisco to live with his eccentric aunt and uncle in Iowa. The experience is a revelation for Jack—who is accustomed to being virtually invisible at home and school—as he finds that he has friends who are as odd as his aunt and uncle. Then he is noticed and beaten up by a bully, and the powerful town villain seems to target him also with dark plans. What’s going on here? The answers are not given up easily, and that’s just one facet of this delightful puzzle of a book that is filled with wonders and magic, yes, but magic that is ancient, numinous, and tied to the natural world. Readers are tacitly invited to help untangle this deep and complex web. Barnhill’s first novel for children is a marvel of both plotting and characterization, provide a foundation for the omnipresent magic that elevates this title to the first rank of contemporary children’s literature. Best of all, an open ending suggests the possibility of a sequel. Readers can only hope. - Copyright 2011 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 09/01/2011 Gr 5–8—Bullies and distracted, disinterested parents have left Jack with zero self-esteem when he arrives in the mysterious town of Hazelwood, IA. His mother coldly and unceremoniously dumps him off to spend the summer with his quirky aunt and uncle, Mabel and Clive Fitzpatrick. Barnhill's practiced use of personification signals readers that the Fitzpatricks' house and other inanimate objects are strangely alive. While Jack doesn't recollect having been there before, he has bouts of remembering, not quite déjà vu, and things seem eerily familiar in this spooky town where kids go missing and folks just seem to forget they existed. There's plenty of foreshadowing to alert readers to the scariness ahead as Jack makes friends, develops self-confidence, embarks on the age-old battle of good versus evil and, in the end, finds the place, albeit a strange one, where he belongs.—Patricia N. McClune, Conestoga Valley High School, Lancaster, PA - Copyright 2011 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 10/01/2011 Twelve-year-old Jack has never been a fan of fairy tales, so it is with chagrin that he finds himself in the middle of one when his mother ships him off to spend the summer with estranged relatives in a small Iowa town. After spending much of his life ignored—even by his own parents—Jack is shocked when the people of Hazelwood not only notice him but also seem to expect some mighty big things of him: his uncle keeps going on about a magical Lady and Jack’s potential, his new friend Wendy looks at him like he is going to sprout corn out of his ears any minute; and the wealthiest man in town is intent on Jack’s demise. Indeed, even the land itself seems to be calling to him, and as he slowly begins to unravel the mysteries surrounding both his heritage and the town’s strange spate of missing children, he comes to realize he is connected to the town’s foundation—as either a savior or a sacrifice. Richly atmospheric, this folklorically flavored tale offers a strangely pleasing combination of midwestern charm and hauntingly creepy Tim Burton–like imagination. Barnhill reveals just enough of Hazelwood’s many secrets to keep the readers gripped, and the perfectly timed pacing makes for a quick and accessible read. Despite a touch of preachiness at the end, there is a wonderfully subversive element that runs through this tale, underscored by the bittersweet but utterly appropriate ending. While not quite as terrifying as Westall’s The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral (BCCB 4/93), this will still find an audience among fans of Gaiman’s Coraline (BCCB 11/02) and the like. KQG - Copyright 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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