Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 09/02/2012 It’s not exactly Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009), but the splicing of small folk creatures with a Little House on the Prairie setting may give purists a fright. Fortunately, Wiley has created an appealing heroine in 12-year-old Louisa Brody and an involving adventure to help her exonerate her jailed father. There’s also humor thanks to the wee Scottish brownie who has found his way out onto the prairie. The book begins after Louisa’s dad has been accused of stealing from their neighbor. Louisa’s mother has died, so Louisa must stay with those accusing neighbors, and the well-named Mrs. Smirch wields a mean soup ladle. Louisa finds an ally in the Smirches’ orphaned niece, and together they discover Angus O’Gorsebush, a creature living underground. Yes, he is the source of their trouble, but he also helps save the day. Wiley’s cleverly constructed story, which switches over to the circuit judge’s amusing perspective for a few chapters, is not only a fine tall tale but also gives some sense of nineteenth-century frontier life. - Copyright 2012 Booklist.

Bulletin for the Center... - 10/01/2012 Young Louisa Brody has a big problem: her widowed pa has just been arrested for robbery, thanks to their unpleasant neighbor Mr. Smirch, who discovered some of his family’s missing possessions in the Brodys’ old dugout. Louisa and Pa have no idea how their neighbors’ stuff (and some of their own) got into the dugout, but that mystery is solved when Louisa and her new friend, Jessamine, discover that a Scottish brownie named Mr. O’Gorsebush is responsible. Like the human residents of this rural Colorado community, the brownie is an immigrant, and he has been stockpiling the Brodys’ and Smirches’ possessions in an attempt to placate his absentee wife, who has been distraught since the death of Louisa’s mother. As a brownie, he also considers the items “payment” for his magical services rendered around the farms, unbeknownst to the Brodys or Smirches. Lousia soon realizes that she’s between a rock and a hard place, as she can only save her father by revealing the identity of the “thief,” which would be disastrous for Mr. O’Gorsebush. Luckily, some quick thinking and a sympathetic judge (whose housekeeper turns out to be Mr. O’Gorsebush’s missing wife) save the day, and Pa is exonerated while the brownies’ secret is kept safe. Frontier fiction and folkloric fantasy are an unusual combination, but they actually blend remarkably well here, and Wiley does a fine job of staying true to the pioneer inflections of Louisa’s story while effectively integrating the magical brownies. Louisa is a strong and sympathetic heroine, and the sassy attitude of the brownies makes them good fun as well. The effective mashup of popular genres will make this a hit with a variety of readers, so try handing it to Little House fans and folktale-lovers alike. Occasional full-page black and white illustrations are a little dark and muddy, but their painterly style adds depth to the whimsy. JH - Copyright 2012 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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