Otherwood

I think this book walks a really weird line that I wasn't 100% expecting. It's almost a mix of a time travel saga and your normal, everyday Middle Grade contemporary story. Except... it's not really time travel and it's also not really alternate realities. It's something in between, and I can't deny that it took me a little while to come to terms with. This book is absolutely original, and it falls into a category that I hadn't read anything from before.

Stuey and Ella meet, and become fast friends. There's a mystery involved, revolving around their families. There are forts to be built in the overgrown forest, and the sad realities of big business taking over wild lands. There's even a mini story line that shows life during Stuey's grandfather's life, where discrimination was the norm and and hatred of another people was acceptable. This book has a lot going on, and not all of it seemed to flow exactly. In a way, I feel like there is so much that is interesting happening all at once that it kind of continuously overshadows itself.

I think my favorite part of this story, and what honestly kept me reading, was the fact that this book takes the reader back to a quieter, simpler time in childhood. A time when magic exists everywhere, where nature is a refuge, and where absolutely anything is possible. I loved the idea of an overgrown golf course that was retaken by the forest. It took me back to the days when I used to drag a pile of books, a blanket, and a whole basket of snacks out into the yard and just stay out there all day. I miss that. This book will make you remember, and that's fantastic.