cover image The Pigs Are Flying!

The Pigs Are Flying!

Emily Rodda. Greenwillow Books, $15 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-688-08130-0

Rodda takes a funny ideapigs might flyand expands it to an entertaining novel for middle readers. On a rainy day, Rachel is tired of being cooped up with a cold, and wishes somethinganythingwould happen. She gets her wishthe next time she awakens from a doze, a unicorn is waiting to take her away; her destination is a very odd place where certain weather systems make pigs fly and people just a little bit crazy in storms known as grunters. By the time Rachel finds her way back home, she has reunited a family whose daughter left during a grunter a long time ago and hadn't been seen since, and she has learned not to wish for things so lightly in the future. The premise is good-natured and funny, and this book will please those who are just beginning to read fantasies. Illustrations not seen by PW . Ages 9-up (September)