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All Aboard the Dinotrain by Deb Lund
Are You Afraid Yet? by Stephen James O'Meara
Bailey's Day by Robert Haggerty
A Brief History of Time by Shaindel Beers
Cat Heaven by Cynthia Rylant
Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez
A Dark, Dark Tale by Ruth Brown
Dead End by Helen R. Myers
Dreamstone by D. A. Hendrickson
The Electric Church by Jeff Somers
The Essential Basho by Basho and translated by Sam Hamill
Excuse Me... Are You a Witch? by Emily Horn
Farewell Atlantis by Terry Bisson
Freckle Juice by Judy Blume
Grampa's Zombie BBQ by Kirk Scraggs
The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry
How to Host a Killer Party by Penny Warner
The Kayla Chroincles by Sherri Winston
The Ladies' Paradise by Émile Zola
Little (Grrl) Lost by Charles de Lint
Little Quack's Hide and Seek by Lauren Thompson
The Man Who Did Something About It by Harvey Jacobs
Owly Volume 1: The Way Home and The Bittersweet Summer by Andy Runton
Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Revolutionary War on Wednesday (Magic Tree House #22) by Mary Pope Osborne
The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
The Soul of the Rhino by Hemanta Mishra
Spot Visits His Grandparents by Eric Hill
The Texicans by Nina Vida
The Thanksgiving Door by Debby Atwell
Twister on Tuesday (Magic Tree House #23) by Mary Pope Osborne
Two Little Trains by Margaret Wise Brown and Leo Dillon
The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman
Veracity by Laura Bynum

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Little (Grrl) Lost: 06/15/10

cover art

Having so enjoyed three books by Charles de Lint, I decided to try one of his young adult books. I chose at random Little (Grrl) Lost.

TJ has been forced to move into the city of Newford from the country. She misses her horse and the freedom she had. On her first night in her new room she meets Elizabeth, a teenaged Little looking for the same freedoms as TJ, except that she's willing to runaway from home to get them.

With the introduction of Littles into the novel, I was at first excited. But my warm fuzzy feeling didn't last very long. The novel changes direction when Elizabeth's family abandons her. TJ now has to help Elizabeth find her family.

In the other de Lint books I've read when something fantastic happens the characters who live there take it in stride. There's usually someone who can mentor the main character in the legends and magic of the area. In Little (Grrl) Lost most of the other characters are openly hostile to the thought of magic existing in Newford.

Little (Grrl) Lost is the 20th book of the Newford series. I could understand magic being an unusual or unimaginable thing if it were the first book. But the 20th? Shouldn't Newford have a reputation by now? Or an explanation as to why it's magical properties haven't been known to the general public? Is it the Mist, a spell or a pact of silence?

The final blow for me though was how dependent TJ and Elizabeth were on male help. They are the most stereotypical damsels in distress I've read in years. All the other books I've read by de Lint have had strong, well rounded and believable female characters. They only difference is that they were in adult books. I hope this book is a fluke and not something he does on a regular basis in his young adult books.

Comments (2)


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Comment #1: Wednesday, June, 16, 2010 at 13:45:59

Jeane

This book didn't work for me, either. I haven't really cared for his other YAs I've tried to read, but for different reasons.



Comment #2: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at 13:10:34

Pussreboots

Before Little Grrl Lost I'd only read his adult novels. Those I've loved.



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