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Shelf Awareness--The Wildest Thing

PB Review: The Wildest Thing

The Wildest Thing by Emily Winfield Martin (Random House Books for Young Readers, 9798217023981)

The Wildest Thing by Emily Winfield Martin (The Imaginaries; The Wonderful Things You Will Be) splendidly depicts one quiet girl's dream of "wild things" welcomed into her heart and home.

Eleanor "dreamed of things... with fur and fin./ And when the/ sun came up/ the Wild had come in." Bunnies hop through her bedroom, squirrels skitter through her kitchen, and her couch has turned into a bear. But Eleanor wants to be wild, too, so she flutters her wings, hides in a den, and howls. Deer, foxes, and wolves all join Eleanor for tea and cake, after which she pounces, hops, and "prowl[s] around the room." She flips, flops, unfurls, and she "bloom[s]!" As night falls Eleanor takes a tumble, after which she's ready for her bath (with a swan and cygnets, a bunny, and some fish nearby, of course) and climbs into bed under a full moon, where "in the place between awake/ and dreams not yet begun," she hears a voice that loves her say, "Good night, my wild one."

This idyllic story springs to life through Martin's radiant colored pencil, gouache, and acrylic art, wherein daytime pastels are bookended by the deep blues and greens of magical night. The author/illustrator's ravishing art, soft and sweet, yet solid and precise builds a believably whimsical world in which Eleanor's adventures come alive. Martin's rhyming text has a gentle cadence that rises and falls as the wonders of Eleanor's day unfold, making The Wildest Thing a delightful dream of creativity, imagination, and getting wild. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author. Originally printed in Shelf Awareness.

Shelf Awareness--Break Wide the Sea

YA Review: Break Wide the Sea

Break Wide the Sea by Sara Holland (Wednesday Books, 9781250854490)

Break Wide the Sea by Sara Holland (Phoenix Flame) is the first installment of a darkly romantic series containing aquatic fae and a tidal wave of betrayed love and ruinous curses.

Eighteen-year-old, "dark blonde"-haired Annie Fairfax is cursed. "In the old days," when finfolk magic was stronger, "they could curse an entire... bloodline." The Fairfaxes, who run one of Kirkrell's prosperous whaling companies, are one such family, doomed by a monstrous "heartbreak" curse that passes through the generations. A brokenhearted Fairfax becomes a scaled, clawed creature blinded by bloodlust.

Annie's curse activated six years ago when her parents drowned in a finfolk attack and Annie took control of the Fairfax Whaling Company. Whalers hunt Livyati, magical whales prized by the seafaring people of Kirkrell. However, Livyati sightings are decreasing as finfolk attacks increase. At least Annie has stalwart fiancé August by her side. When half-finfolk captain Silas Price seeks Annie out to tell her the curse can be broken, he insists she must agree to stop killing Livyati. If she doesn't, devastating war with the finfolk is inevitable. And, Silas says, Annie desperately needs to lift the curse soon--August is about to betray her.

Holland's oceanic setting is inherently high-stakes, and the author capitalizes on the danger and romance that long days and nights on a whaling expedition afford. Holland undoubtedly succeeds at the difficult task she has set for herself: create a compelling plot with a main character who is, in her own words, "weak and avoidant and fragile." Hand this title to fans of Tricia Levenseller's Daughter of the Pirate King or Bethany C. Morrow's A Song Below Water. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author. Originally printed in Shelf Awareness.