Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this is not a book about Disney fairies -- the Various are in every way, except stature, primitive and at times savagely violent adults. Several of them are killed violently, and they pose a serious threat to the lives of the human child protagonists.
Families who read this book could discuss the caste system of the Various. Why do so many cultures seem stratified? Is equality really possible? Also, why are there so many variations of Elementals in so many cultures around the world -- fairies, elves, dwarves, sprites, pixies, gnomes, goblins, brownies, leprechauns, etc.? How do the Various compare?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Matt Berman
This literary fantasy, the first of a planned trilogy, harkens back to the style of the great fantasy writers of the past -- Edward Eager, Mary Norton, E. Nesbit, etc. -- but updates it for a new generation. Like the earlier authors, Steve Augarde takes his time getting to the crux of the story, and doesn't talk down to his audience -- he writes in dense and lyrical prose best suited to experienced readers and listeners.
But unlike those mid-20th century writers, there's an edge here, a more visceral violence that will keep young readers in high suspense, as he makes it seem perfectly possible that his characters can be injured and even killed.
Readers will care about that because Augarde's characters are especially delightful. Uncle Brian is the kind of warm, affable uncle we all wish we had, and his easygoing, compassionate son George takes after him -- the ideal cousin. His older sister Katie is a testy adolescent, but ultimately levelheaded and casually heroic -- the kind of big sister who is often annoying, but can always be depended on when it counts. And Midge herself, filled with love and tremulous courage, is a three-dimensional heroine.
Augarde is also especially good at vivid details, and the world of the Various is made compelling and real. Experienced readers will love this, be eager for the sequel, and may just go exploring in any nearby woods to see if there are any Various to be found.
From The Book
The struggling creature, elegant, beautiful even in its agony, arched its slim neck and attempted to look over its blood-streaked shoulder, indicating to Midge where the trouble lay. Midge stumbled closer, almost against her will, and the back of her hand banged her open mouth as she did so. Now she could see clearly. At last she realized what had been causing the noise she had first heard, the frantic beating that had drawn her towards this moment. The tiny horse was skewered to the filthy concrete floor by the spiked wheels of the raking machine. The prongs had pierced straight through one of its ... wings. The other wing flapped in the muck a couple of times, uselessly, and then ceased.
Plot Summary:
Midge is less than thrilled to be sent to stay with her eccentric uncle on his rundown farm while her mother is on tour with her orchestra. But once there she finds she loves the place, and her affable uncle.
While exploring one of the outbuildings, she finds a strange injured creature -- Pegs, a small horse with wings who can communicate telepathically. She nurses it back to health, and learns that it lives in the dense woods that her uncle plans to sell to a developer. When Pegs learns of these plans, he insists that Midge accompany him back to the woods to tell this news to the beings who live hidden there -- the Various. But now that Midge knows of the Various, some of the them think that she should not be allowed to leave alive.
Related Books:
Sequel:
Celandine
More Great Old-Fashioned Fantasy:
The Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston
The Return of the Twelves by Pauline Clarke
Half Magic by Edward Eager
Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
The Phoenix and the Carpet by E. Nesbit
Bed-Knob and Broomstick by Mary Norton
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
David and the Phoenix by Edward Ormondroyd
| Content | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS | adults | kids | ||
Sexual Content |
 |
|||
ViolenceSeveral killings, by arrow, poisoned dart, and animal attack. Kids in life-threatening danger. |
 |
|||
Language |
|
|||
Message |
|
|||
Social BehaviorThe heroine speaks out against the injustice of the Various' caste system. |
 |
|||
Commercialism |
|
|||
Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco |
|
|||
