In this highly anticipated follow-up to Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, Jonathan Auxier creates a twisted tale both creepy and suspenseful, in the tradition of Washington Irving.
Readers first meet 14-year-old Molly and 10-year-old Kip McConnachie, two Irish orphaned siblings, as they navigate the English countryside through the "sourwoods" in search of the Windsor estate. Molly has secured a place for them as servants to a family that finds themselves in lowered circumstances. Upon their arrival, what alarms Molly most about the rundown mansion is the way a tree has "insinuated itself into the very architecture." Its limbs protrude through the plaster walls. Quickly making themselves indispensable, Molly takes great care of the lady of the house and her two spoiled children, Penny and Alistair, while Kip, who may be lame, nonetheless creates a glorious garden from the remains of what felt like "the memory of one." The house and its family are haunted by this mysterious tree with a mind of its own and the Night Gardener who cares for it. Auxier shifts the third-person narrative between Molly and Kip's perspectives. Kip is afraid of the tree, with good reason. Molly "knew the truth: the tree was magic--not storybook magic but the real thing." Indeed, the tree casts a spell on those around it, granting them a wish of their choice. However, nothing comes without a price.
Auxier makes the unbelievable believable. He draws from classic texts (such as Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked this Way Comes and The Secret Garden, as he explains in an author's note) so that parts of the plot, characters and setting will feel familiar to readers, then layers in wholly original elements. He builds suspense through twists and turns, with just the right amount of watering, like the magical tree--just enough so the story thrives but not so much that it drowns in a pool that rots the roots.
The eerie setting, the pacing of the plot and the cast of characters--each of whom, in his or her own way, evolves as a storyteller--makes this an ideal family read-aloud and a vacation pleasure. Give this to fans of Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz, Jennifer Nielsen's Ascendance trilogy, The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart and Cornelia Funke's Inkheart series. --Susannah Richards
Shelf Talker: With all the elements of legend, this eerie story of a magic tree will captivate readers with its Victorian setting and cast of eccentric characters.