About the Book
-
Author:
- C.C. Harrington
- Genres:
- Historical Fiction
- Middle Grade
Cover Story: One With The Woods
BFF Charm: Big Sister x 2
Talky Talk: Cat Cognition
Bonus Factors: Environmentalism, Disability Representation, Kickass Grandpa
Anti-Bonus Factors: Animal Abuse, Ableism, Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
Relationship Status: Reads Like A Classic
Cover Story: One With The Woods
The starry night sky shaped like Maggie’s silhouette, with her snow leopard friend prowling in the foreground, is a beautiful representation of the story.
The Deal:
England, 1963. Maggie Stephens has a stutter, for which she gets bullied at school and fears being sent to an even worse institution. When her parents send her to her grandfather in Cornwall in hopes that the country air will improve her speech, she sees this as her last chance for freedom. But when she finds a snow leopard cub abandoned in the forest, and the local landowner threatens to cut down all the trees for a copper mine, Maggie will have to speak out, stutter and all, for all the creatures who can’t speak for themselves.
BFF Charm: Big Sister x 2
Maggie and Rumpus, the snow leopard, are both in heartbreaking condition: lost in a hostile environment and afraid of being locked away. They bond with each other precisely because no one else understands them (except maybe Maggie’s grandfather), which means they could really use someone who tries.
Swoonworthy Scale: 0
There is no romance in this story, but Maggie’s friendship scale with Rumpus and her grandfather is off the charts.
Talky Talk: Cat Cognition
I liked Maggie’s chapters, but Rumpus’ were something else. It’s never easy to write from the point of view of someone different from you, let alone a different species. This little leopard, though, is very much a leopard – smells, hunting instincts and all – and still deeply relatable to anyone who’s ever been hurt, lonely, or surprised by kindness.
Bonus Factor: Environmentalism
Maggie keeps a rescued mouse, pigeon, woodlice and snails in her room in London, already a caregiver even before she meets Rumpus. Her grandfather Fred, the village doctor who doubles as a vet, rescues animals on a larger scale, while also opposing the landowner’s plan for the copper mine that will destroy the forest where Rumpus is hiding. When Maggie worries for the safety of the plants and animals they are trying to protect, Fred tells her:
“We do what we can, in our own small ways, and sometimes that’s enough to make a difference. Not always, but sometimes. I really do believe that when lots of people, perhaps hundreds or even thousands of people do what they can, things really will change. Big things, like the law.”
Bonus Factor: Disability Representation
Harrington’s author bio mentions that she has worked as a teacher for children with learning differences, which explains why her portrayal of Maggie and her stutter feels so believable. The “cure” her parents are expecting never happens, but she does learn to live with it and be kinder to herself.
Bonus Factor: Kickass Grandpa
Fred is not only a doctor but an inventor, working on a flying car he calls the “Wingéd Wonder” (although it doesn’t actually fly yet). He is also one of the few people in Maggie’s life with the patience to listen to her, although even he has a few things to learn.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Animal Abuse
The only reason a snow leopard ends up in Cornwall is because he was sold in a pet store, to a spoiled rich woman who doesn’t know what to do with him and dumps him in the woods. Rumpus, too wild for the city but too domesticated for the wilderness, can’t find his way around and gets caught in a hunter’s trap. His confusion over whether humans can be trusted is painful to read.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Ableism
At the beginning of the story, Maggie regularly hurts herself to get sent to the school nurse and avoid having to read aloud in class. When the nurse notices the pattern, instead of helping her, she threatens to send the young girl to a place rumored to starve its patients. Worse, even Maggie’s father wants to send her to the same place.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
Maggie’s father is a traumatized WWII veteran. This might explain why he’s a control freak, but it doesn’t excuse him trying to lock away his daughter.
Relationship Status: Reads Like A Classic
That’s a quote from one of the blurbs on the book jacket (by Pam Muñoz Ryan, to be exact), not from me, but accurate nonetheless.
Literary Matchmaking
Fault Lines by Nora Shalaway Carpenter also features a heroine who speaks for the forest.
The Witch’s Boy by Kelly Barnhill also features a lead character with a speech impediment.
The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison is also set in Cornwall, England.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received no compensation for this review. Wildoak is available now.
This sounds so sweet!
Yes. I found this book in a secondhand shop, I love it when that happens.