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A review by tcbueti
My Diary from the Edge of the World by Jodi Lynn Anderson
5.0
Imaginative mix of reality and fantasy--family fleeing to the Otherworld, where magical creatures (dragons, Saqquatches, ghosts) don't cause havoc and Clouds don't come to take people way to their deaths. Fearing that a cloud on their street is coming for their sickly youngest Sam (aka Mouse), the family--scattered meteorologist dad, musical mom, older sister Millie and feisty Gracie--along with Oliver, a classmate whose family was killed by sasquatches) --piles into an RV and takes off for the flat edge of the world, so they can get to the Otherworld. But does it really exist? Is their dad right? (Oliver adds an interesting voice and perspective: he's trying to forget his family.)
Full of great settings--their hometown, with tunnels to get to school during dragon season, their witch grandmother's wooden house, set in forest and full of ghosts in the backyard, an oddly overgrown Los Angeles (taken over by ghosts and the forest after being built by giants), weeks on board ship. They accidentally capture a Sasquatch in their trailer, then have to decide what to do with her. Nearly get lost in the desert, stumble upon Luck City, a sort of pueblo Vegas, full of desperate gamblers and schemers. After a brief stay in Los Angeles, (to hire a guardian angel named Virgil) they end up on a ship, heading to the South Pole, past Santa's island (why not?) trying to escape ghost ships. Major plot twist at the end.
The mix of familiar and fantastic makes it scarier, I think and disorienting and memorable.
Lots to discuss about parents and trust.
Full of great settings--their hometown, with tunnels to get to school during dragon season, their witch grandmother's wooden house, set in forest and full of ghosts in the backyard, an oddly overgrown Los Angeles (taken over by ghosts and the forest after being built by giants), weeks on board ship. They accidentally capture a Sasquatch in their trailer, then have to decide what to do with her. Nearly get lost in the desert, stumble upon Luck City, a sort of pueblo Vegas, full of desperate gamblers and schemers. After a brief stay in Los Angeles, (to hire a guardian angel named Virgil) they end up on a ship, heading to the South Pole, past Santa's island (why not?) trying to escape ghost ships. Major plot twist at the end.
The mix of familiar and fantastic makes it scarier, I think and disorienting and memorable.
Lots to discuss about parents and trust.