Birdie
A very fun children's book that integrates aspects of magical realism with a coming of age story following a girl who goes on a search for her missing sister. This was a go-to read I had growing up, it's short and sweet and easy to pick up more than once. For an adult the storytelling is pretty linear and predictable at times but it's still a nice read. It plays with fairy tale tropes in an interesting way while still creating its own loose 'rules' for how magic functions and is viewed within this society.
"Crags" are treated as a marginalized group and I think having the main character and her family be Vietnamese (a minority as well) while still holding a bias against Crags holds a space for a lot of nuance without talking down to the younger audience.
Some minor body horror elements were sprinkled throughout but nothing terribly grotesque or uncomfortable. Definitely appropriate for a middle grade reader.
A very fun children's book that integrates aspects of magical realism with a coming of age story following a girl who goes on a search for her missing sister. This was a go-to read I had growing up, it's short and sweet and easy to pick up more than once. For an adult the storytelling is pretty linear and predictable at times but it's still a nice read. It plays with fairy tale tropes in an interesting way while still creating its own loose 'rules' for how magic functions and is viewed within this society.
"Crags" are treated as a marginalized group and I think having the main character and her family be Vietnamese (a minority as well) while still holding a bias against Crags holds a space for a lot of nuance without talking down to the younger audience.
Some minor body horror elements were sprinkled throughout but nothing terribly grotesque or uncomfortable. Definitely appropriate for a middle grade reader.