Every now and then, I come upon middle grade stories that are so magical and adventurous I can’t wait to share them with my boys—even if they have girl protagonists at their heart and center.
Once Was a Time, by Leila Sales, is a story about time travel. Charlotte’s Bromley is separated from her best friend of all time, Kitty, when she jumps into a portal and time travels seventy years forward. Her story initially begins in the middle of World War I, when her father is captured because someone is trying to figure out how to use time portals, and he’s the only one who knows. Charlotte and her best friend attempt a rescue and find themselves in danger. Charlotte is the only one who makes it through the time portal.
She travels to a completely different town and is adopted by a family, becomes friends with some popular girls at her school, all because of her British accent, and tries to adjust to the reality in which she finds herself. But she can’t forget Kitty.
So she embarks on an adventure to find her best friend, following clues that may not be clues at all and, in the process, coming to terms with a present that she might not have ever wanted.
Once Was a Time was such a sweet story of love and friendship and the ties that bind even across many years and cultures. I’ve noticed that in a lot of middle grade fiction, romance has begun to creep in. But this story was so innocent and focused only on friendship. Charlotte was faced with a decision about who she wanted to befriend in her new school—the popular girls or the boy everybody called weird? She faced all sorts of obstacles in finding Kitty again—but love would not let her give up.
Everything about this story—from the time travel aspect to the themes of love and friendship and kindness—was lovely and sweet.
Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard, by Jonathan Auxier, was a book I’ve been anticipating since it released. I’ve become a superfan of Jonathan Auxier, having read both The Night Gardener and Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes. I knew that I would like this one, and I was not disappointed.
Sophie Quire is a bookbinder in the city of Bustleburgh, working at her father’s shop, Quire and Quire. She happens upon a mysterious book, called The Book of Who. From this, she figures out there are three other books—The Book of Why, the Book of When and the Book of What. She and Peter Nimble, who is the greatest thief in the history of time, set off on an adventure to find the other ancient books and protect them from the book burning that’s happening in Bustleburgh because the powers that be want to rid the city of nonsense (Sound a little Fahrenheit 451-ish? It was one of the books that inspired Sophie Quire, Auxier says in his author’s note.).
The story is full of magic and adventure and fascinating descriptions that bring the imaginary world of Bustleburgh and the lands beyond it fully and thoroughly alive.
Sophie Quire was such a well-thought-out tale, which is what I’ve come to expect from Auxier. One of my favorite things about the book was that it was broken up into four distinct parts—Who, What, When and Why. Each part, of course, had to do with Peter and Sophie trying to obtain the book with the same question in its name. It made for a very linear structure.
One of my other favorite elements of the book was the voice of the narrator. Sophie Quire was told in omniscient point of view, which, if you’ve been around for a while, you know that I absolutely love. I enjoy hearing the voice of the narrator in certain tales, especially magical adventures (for another great narrator-told tale, check out Christopher Healy’s Hero’s Guide books. They’re hilarious.). This narrator was at times humorous, mysterious and wise.
Something else I really enjoyed about this tale was that Auxier included a lengthy author’s note, in which he listed some of his influences when writing Sophie Quire. It’s always interesting to me to see what sorts of things writers use to make their stories better and also what inspired them to dream up the story in the fist place. His author’s note included several titles that I’ve added to my reading list.
And the last thing I really loved about this book was its beginning and its end. Auxier is a master of drawing readers immediately into the story and then sending them out with a bit of hope.
Here’s the opening of Sophie Quire:
“It has often been said that one should never judge a book by its cover. As any serious reader can tell you, this is terrible advice. Serious readers know the singular pleasure of handling a well-made book—the heft and texture of the case, the rasp of the spine as you lift the cover, the sweet, dusty aroma of yellowed pages as they pass between your fingers. A book is more than a vessel for ideas; It is a living thing in need of love, warmth, and protection.”
This is probably one of my favorite first lines ever.
And this is probably one of my favorite closing lines ever:
“I would like to tell you that Quire & Quire remains open to this day, but that would be untrue. The shop closed eventually, and its marvelous talking books soon made their way to other lands and other readers. Most of these books have grown shy in their old age, preferring to sit quietly on the shelf. But if ever you find a very dusty book on a very-out-of-the-way bookcase, put it to your ear and listen closely. What do you hear? The faint rustle of pages, the creak of an old spine, and the hushed song of a story waiting to be read.”
Be sure to visit my recommendation page to see some of my best book recommendations. If you have any books you recently read that you think I’d enjoy, get in touch. And, if you’re looking for some new books to read, stop by my starter library, where you can get a handful of my books for free.
*The books mentioned above have affiliate links attached to them, which means I’ll get a small kick-back if you click on them and purchase. But I only recommend books I enjoy reading myself. Actually, I don’t even talk about books I didn’t enjoy. I’d rather forget I ever wasted time reading them.
