Common Sense Media Review
By Michael Berry
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Heartfelt fantasy emphasizes emotion and magic.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
As THE LIGHT BETWEEN WORLDS opens, the Harpswell children are somehow whisked away from London during World War II to the magical Woodlands. They spend six years there before returning home as if no time at all has passed. While Jamie and Philippa are happy to resume their mundane lives, Evenlyn pines desperately to return to the Woodlands. When she goes missing, her siblings need to find out whether she found a way home, or whether something more sinister happened to her.
Is It Any Good?
Most people wonder what it might be like to live in a land full of magic, but this clever, evocative, and heartfelt fantasy demonstrates the dangers in having your wishes granted. Debut novelist Laura E. Weymouth crafts an enchanting tale of loss and renewal, getting inside the heads of two very different sisters who question the meaning of home. Both postwar London and the Woodlands are depicted with grace and specificity. The Light Between Worlds seems to be a stand-alone adventure, benefiting from a deep sense of resolution at its end. Fans of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein are likely to be especially pleased with it.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how The Light Between Worlds is written in response to the work of C.S. Lewis. Why do tales of magical worlds remain so popular? What is it about folklore and myth that makes them relevant to modern readers?
How does a person decide where home is? Is it the location where one was born? The place your friends are?
What might it be like to be taken away from everything familiar in your life? How might you learn the rules for fitting in to a strange culture?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Fantasy
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic ) , Adventures , Family Stories ( Siblings )
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : HarperTeen
- Publication date : October 23, 2018
- Number of pages : 320
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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