Fear of how Maggie’s class will react to her stutter causes Maggie to go to extreme lengths to avoid her turn to read aloud. When the school nurse—and her father—have had enough of her “frozen mouth,” Maggie is sent from the family’s home in London to stay with Grandpa Fred in Cornwall. If her stutter improves, Father agrees she won’t have to go to Granville Place, an institution with a nightmarish reputation. (Even though Maggie’s mother understands that Maggie doesn’t need “curing,” it’s 1963 and Dad is ostensibly head of the household.)
In an alternate storyline, convincingly told from the POV of a snow leopard cub, Rumpus and his sister are separated when he’s taken from a pet store and gifted to a woman who can “barely look after herself, let alone a large cat.” Things go predictably poorly. Rumpus is dumped in Wildoak, an ancient woodland near Grandpa Fred’s house in Cornwall which is threatened by a rich landowner.
How animal-loving Maggie meets and befriends Rumpus, and ultimately learns to have her say form the basis of this strong-hearted novel promoting empathy, kindness, and the value of advocacy at any level. Deeply affecting and tinged with magic, WILDOAK is a winner.
--Lynn
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