In this radiant middle-grade coming-of-age novel, a reluctant and socially awkward farm girl with a penchant for droll, idiomatic language ("Babbling birdbrains!"; "Honking Hornworms!") launches an unexpected personal mission to protect her family's 150-year-old Iowa farm.
"Scattered" 12-year-old Xyla feels like she can't please her single mother, Cassiopeia, a hardworking fifth-generation farmer. Xyla is certain that if she could find her absent father, he would appreciate her and not make her do chores. At the same time, her new friend, Alegría, is desperately trying to convince her own father to let her have a quinceañera. When the industrial hog farm Porca Miseria leaks "a bunch of stinking, sloppy piles of sludge" into the creek that flows through Xyla's farm, the girls have a new focus: convincing Porca Miseria to clean up their mess. Luckily Xyla learns her dad is a lawyer for the hog farm. Surely, she thinks, he'll want to help.
Jilanne Hoffmann treats her first middle-grade novel as a blank canvas for her extensive creativity: she changes voices and times, alternates between prose and poetry, and uses animate and inanimate points of view. She also includes snippets from Cassiopeia's childhood diary throughout the text, offering surprising parallels between mother and daughter. HeartLand is a multifaceted and beguiling novel; it is a sensitive exploration of the complexities of multigenerational family business, a zealous ode to environmental stewardship, and a compassionate portrait of a girl who finds it hard to "pay attention" and "focus." Xyla's sincere, zany personality stands out in this exuberant novel, making her a perfect protagonist for readers who are trying to embrace their own quirks. --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor