Keeper of the Rend by Lisa Maxwell (The Last Magician series) is a marvelously heartfelt ode to nature and self-love that follows a budding ornithologist and his tenacious friend as they protect the world from malicious invaders.
When 10-year-old Xavier T. Fletcher's father loses his job, the boy's family is forced to leave the suburbs and move to his Nana Susan's farm. The valley she lives in is one Xavier has always considered magical, where the land is "unbearably alive" and Xavier dares to explore. While out birdwatching, Xavier discovers the Rend--a rip in the air itself--and stops an intrepid girl named Clem from killing a bird that flies through it. Though the bird survives, Clem warns him that the birds "carry bits of the Nother's world into our world" where the "Crumbs" grow like seeds and banish light and warmth. Xavier, who already accidentally let a Crumb loose in the world, will now need to work with Clem to find the missing Crumb before it takes root.
Maxwell's poignant middle-grade debut reads like an endearing oral history with an enchanting third-person narrator who at times speaks directly to readers. The robust woodsy setting is as wondrous as it is uncanny, and Maxwell includes a great amount of humor through wry excerpts from Xavier's field guide, Notes for the National Society of Natural Things by Milton von Wimple II. The author tactfully depicts frayed family ties while still warming the heart through Xavier's enigmatic friendship with the "prickly-but-lovable" Clem. A charming celebration of naturalism and self-confidence. --Samantha Zaboski, freelance editor and reviewer