M
itchell’s debut novel combines classic fairy-myth elements with quirky family dynamics and two likeable protagonists, to fine effect. Eleven-year-old Darren Mananann and his older sister Jackie, along with their parents and a handful of aunts and uncles, make their way to Uncle Will’s house in the woods, only to find Will missing. Darren has been having strange, frightening visions; an overheard conversation about family secrets convinces him that his family is somehow different, and he soon learns that all of the Manananns are able to send their shadows away from their bodies. While Darren and Jackie search for Uncle Will, they are pursued by a “skeleton man,” a bald man with sunken eyes who leaves a “stench of rotting pumpkins” in his wake. Soon after, they cross over into another world called Tir na N’Og, where a brownie (an elfin creature) named Nim Bol helps them locate their uncle, who has been turned into a tree. The Mananann family indeed has deep roots in the land of the fay, and the kids learn of their connection to the Traitor King, who separated the two worlds. They journey back home to find pieces of a magical staff that can reunite the two and transform Uncle Will back to his old self. There’s a light dose of environmental allegory in the story, but by and large it’s a purely fun journey, infused with enough humor to keep the pages turning. Ages 9-12. (Apr.)
