A review by whatellisreadnext
Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker

adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ'๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ," ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ. "๐˜'๐˜ฎ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต, ๐˜ช๐˜ง ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฏ'๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ'๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ'๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜›๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด, ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด, ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ด. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ."

Avery and Zib live on the same street, but they have never met. When on their way to school, they both stumble upon a wall in the middle of the path, that definitely shouldn't be there. They climb over it, and end up in the Up-and-Under.

I loved every second of this beautifully crafted Middlegrade adventure. Having never read a book by Seanan McGuire before, I had no idea what to expect, but the writing was just something else. This book is dripping with such beautiful, and vivid imagery. I've popped Middlegame on my Christmas list, as this is actually the book referenced in that story (hence the pen name). 

This is the story of two very different children, going on an unexpected adventure. Think in the vein of Wizard of Oz, Narnia, Alice in Wonderland. It had similar elements to all of these books, but still managed to hold it's own. I loved the subtle comments on society and gender, particularly this quote:

๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ญ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฌ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ง, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ง ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ.

This is truly a book that transcends it's label of Middlegrade, and could be enjoyed by everyone of all ages. Whilst reading, I had a warm fuzzy feeling inside the whole way through, and that's what we need in these uncertain times. Be warned though, this is a very open ending, but I know there is a sequel in the works so fingers crossed it is out soon๐Ÿคž