176 pages
Published Sept. 9, 2016
Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.
But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.
Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.
But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.
No matter the cost.
Another YA with solid concept but the plot simplifications are jarringly mismatched. Childhood imagination and trauma themes in theory?
A lovely story.
Another amazing story from Seanan. I've recently read The Girl in the Green Silk Gown and A Local Habitation, and am fascinated by the differences in these stories and how they parallel each other at tangents.
I recommend this book to teens and adults. It's dark and different.
Whimsicle, deceptively simple and light, hard punch, gorgeous language.
1.5 stars
Awesome premise, unimpressive execution. Would have been better as either a short story (with a punch) or a fully realized novel. Honestly the title is better than anything in the book.
This was a fun little tale, one I'd recommend to any fans of fantasy and YA.
I really wanted to love this book. I love the premise. I loved the diversity of the characters and being able to connect with characters like myself, that you don't find too often in YA - or any fiction, for that matter. I just really did not love the writing - it's juvenile, which honestly I can't even be mad about since this IS a YA book. If I had been able to pick this book up 10 years ago, I think I would have loved it. It's still a nice read regardless.
I almost read this entire book in one sitting. The only reason I didn't is because I was tired enough that my eyes were hurting. I read the first ~140 pages at once and finished the final ~30 the next day. It's a short book, and a quick read. And I absolutely ate it up.
It was an easy read, and the writing was a mixed bag. This book gives us amazing quotes such as "we notice the silence of men. We depend upon the silence of women", yet it seems like every other page the lines "'oh,' she said" or "she said nothing at all" were used. I think there could have been some better writing in that sort of regard.
Regardless though, I loved this book, and the queer representation made me happy as an asexual. I can't wait to read Down Among the Sticks and Bones, and …
I almost read this entire book in one sitting. The only reason I didn't is because I was tired enough that my eyes were hurting. I read the first ~140 pages at once and finished the final ~30 the next day. It's a short book, and a quick read. And I absolutely ate it up.
It was an easy read, and the writing was a mixed bag. This book gives us amazing quotes such as "we notice the silence of men. We depend upon the silence of women", yet it seems like every other page the lines "'oh,' she said" or "she said nothing at all" were used. I think there could have been some better writing in that sort of regard.
Regardless though, I loved this book, and the queer representation made me happy as an asexual. I can't wait to read Down Among the Sticks and Bones, and I expect I'll check out some more of Seanan McGuire's works as well.
¿Qué es lo que le pasaría a Alicia cuando salió del País de las Maravillas?
Pues seguramente un trauma de tamaño industrial.
De eso va este libro, de un refugio para niñas y niños (pocos) que han sobrevivido a un mundo de fantasía y salido de él, y de como adaptarse a una vida esperando poder volver allí.
Es muy muy corto, pero en lo poco que dura, da para poner pinceladas a distintos mundos fuera de lo típico, incluyendo carreras por arcoiris, imitaciones de estatua o resurrecciones a lo Frankestein.
Los personajes te los presenta rápido, y casi sin darte cuenta, te mete en la trama, de la que no voy a contar nada.
Recomendable para leer después de algún libro grande, y te dejará con ganas de más.
So far I've only read the October Daye series and coming from that I was not disappointed by this beautiful if somewhat morbid novella. The title alone is captivating and so is this story of children/teenagers who have traveled to other worlds only to return to ours and feel lost. It is also a mystery, a "wizard" school and a character study all rolled into one. I love the character concepts for Nancy in particular. Less of a cliché than I expected. Since this is subtitled Wayward Children #1 I am hoping for #2 :)
As a bonus the story has quite a bit of humor that tends to be on the darker side given that death is one of its major themes.
Whatever happens after those children come home from their adventures in portal worlds? The trauma of living years in another world, going through puberty even, then being cast back into your earth-bound body, at the same age you left? C.S. Lewis didn't really address the mental health implications of the children he sent to Narnia, did he?
But never fear, Seanan McGuire swoops in with Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, a special school for children who tumbled through a doorway, a rabbit hole or any other number of entrances to magical worlds, and came back again.
The main character comes right out and says she's asexual, something this book has been praised for. She shows that she's interested in the romance but not what comes after. Another child was rejected from his world because they thought he was a princess but on the inside he was a boy. There …
Whatever happens after those children come home from their adventures in portal worlds? The trauma of living years in another world, going through puberty even, then being cast back into your earth-bound body, at the same age you left? C.S. Lewis didn't really address the mental health implications of the children he sent to Narnia, did he?
But never fear, Seanan McGuire swoops in with Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, a special school for children who tumbled through a doorway, a rabbit hole or any other number of entrances to magical worlds, and came back again.
The main character comes right out and says she's asexual, something this book has been praised for. She shows that she's interested in the romance but not what comes after. Another child was rejected from his world because they thought he was a princess but on the inside he was a boy. There are twins who were assigned pretty and clever roles by their parents, now rebelling against that. It seems that magical lands like taking the children that don't quite fit.
In essence there's a whole big metaphor here for parents who refuse to accept their children as they are when they are not straight or cis. In their magical worlds they finally found a place where they felt the belonged, when their parents try and shape them in a pre-designated image. Most the parents are in denial.
But the Home is the opposite of a "correctional" facility. Eleanor West may pretend to parents that she works to "cure" the children, but instead she listens to them and lets them come to terms with their loss in their own ways. Sometimes doors will open again, but more often than not, they don't.
The plot is more of an aside, with a murder mystery at the centre. It's more about exploring the children and how they are affected, more by our society than the other lands. I loved all the different types of places they visited, although these are just glimpses. If anything, it was a little too short and I will definitely be reading Down Among the Sticks and Bones, which follows Jack and Jill's back story.
What happens to kids who go on adventures to fantasy lands when they return home? Obviously, they tell people what happened to them and then they are treated as mentally ill or as the survivors of such horrific abuse that they made up stories to get themselves through their kidnappings. When they don't recant the stories they may end up in a boarding school for their own protection.
Eleanor West takes in these children. She was one of them too. She takes the children who are desperately looking for a way to return to their lands.
How do you come back from that?
As soon as Nancy arrives and starts to get acclimated to the strange people around her, there is a murder. Since she came from the Halls of the Dead, she's a suspect. When murders keep happening it is up to the students and staff to find out …
What happens to kids who go on adventures to fantasy lands when they return home? Obviously, they tell people what happened to them and then they are treated as mentally ill or as the survivors of such horrific abuse that they made up stories to get themselves through their kidnappings. When they don't recant the stories they may end up in a boarding school for their own protection.
Eleanor West takes in these children. She was one of them too. She takes the children who are desperately looking for a way to return to their lands.
How do you come back from that?
As soon as Nancy arrives and starts to get acclimated to the strange people around her, there is a murder. Since she came from the Halls of the Dead, she's a suspect. When murders keep happening it is up to the students and staff to find out what is going on before the authorities find out and shut down their school.
Read this one for the wonderful language and characters. The students are diverse racially and in their gender expressions. The only thing they have in common is wanting to go back home to the magical worlds they miss.
I loved this book so much I read it once myself and then read it out loud to my husband.This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story
This very well may be McGuire's most complete book to date. By that I mean that she manages to embrace the big concept and pair it with strong characterization and a deep emotional core. The plot itself is engaging, if a little light (as a mystery, it was a bit too easy to predict the outcome).
My only real complain is the occasional awkward explanatory passage. It felt as if beta readers gave feedback that requested clarification & that was quickly inserted into the text. It's only a sentence here & there, but did happen often enough for me to notice.
Looking forward to more stories in this world.
I loved this novella. Have you wondered about what happened to the children after they came back from Narnia, through the looking glass, and those other portals into magical places? Seanan imagines them at a boarding school run by a woman who had that experience herself, and wants to help children cope.
Children end up here when parents are desperate with the child who ran away/was kidnapped returns home, won't talk about what happened, or tells ridiculous lies, and can't settle down happily to their old friends and school. The talk of therapy is perhaps vague, and parental visits are strictly forbidden, but children who go there tend to come home in better shape than they left.
The characters are well drawn, there's suspense, and it's a wonderful read. It is dark, but I didn't find it over-the-top (I'm not a Horror fan).
3.5
