Author: A. Deborah Baker
Series: The Up and Under #1
Genre: Magical realism, Fantasy, Middle Grade
Publication date: October 6, 2020
Book Description (from GoodReads): If you trust her you’ll never make it home…
Avery is an exceptional child. Everything he does is precise, from the way he washes his face in the morning, to the way he completes his homework – without complaint, without fuss, without prompt.
Zib is also an exceptional child, because all children are, in their own way. But where everything Avery does and is can be measured, nothing Zib does can possibly be predicted, except for the fact that she can always be relied upon to be unpredictable.
They live on the same street.
They live in different worlds.
On an unplanned detour from home to school one morning, Avery and Zib find themselves climbing over a stone wall into the Up and Under – an impossible land filled with mystery, adventure and the strangest creatures.
And they must find themselves and each other if they are to also find their way out and back to their own lives.
Review:
Well to start off, I wasn't aware that A. Deborah Baker was the pen name Seanan McGuire uses in some of her works. So something new was learned.
This is a quick and easy to get into story. It's meant for children so it's perfect for a read in a single-day pick. We follow Avery and Zib. Two very different kids- its a classic and almost a cliche- one loud and boisterous and the other silent and in love to follow rules. They live in the same small town, on the same street, go to the same school- but they have never met.
One day, they met on their way to school and find an incredible thing a big wall just chilling there, where they had never noticed a wall before. This reminds me of the Every Heart a Doorway series for obvious reasons. For different reasons, both are determined to show up for school and do not feel comfortable changing routes to avoid the wall, and going back home is not an option either. So they climb over the wall, but at the bottom of the wall, they find themselves in an entirely different world.
With no idea of how to get home, they bicker and blame each other as they start exploring the place. The only reason they stick together is that they're kids and are scared of the new place on their own. They do not like each other but at least they're not alone. As they continue their journey they meet interesting side characters talking owls and a crow girl. I love the idea and the crow girl, she has the ability to break into a ton of crows and she has a very different perspective of life.
This is a wonderful story, it has social commentary, a fantastical world with rules and confusing politics, found friends that are different, and yet they come to discover they can care for one another.
You might get a bit of Oz vibes, so if you like that style you will probably enjoy this greatly. It can be read by all ages not necessarily only children.
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