Tuesday, August 23, 2011

MMGM (on Tues.) - Wildwood + Giveaway

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
(on Tuesday)

Shannon Whitney Messenger decided it was time to give middle grade stories the attention they deserve, and "Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays" was born.   

Wildwood
by Colin Meloy

Expected release: September 2011 by Balzer & Bray

Book Blurb:
A forbidden wilderness. An epic journey. A new classic.
Prue McKeel's life is ordinary. At least until her brother is abducted by a murder of crows and taken to the Impassable Wilderness, a dense, tangled forest in the middle of Portland. No one's ever gone in--or at least returned to tell of it.
So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness.  There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval--a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much greater, as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness. A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.
This book is thick. I was tempted to put off reading it based solely on its length. I'm glad I didn't. Once you begin reading, the length is not an issue--it didn't feel at all as long as it looks. The story truly does have that "classic" feeling: it's unusual, riveting, and completely enjoyable. Despite being the first book in a planned trilogy, it could easily stand alone and still feel satisfying. It's full of wicked coyotes, wise birds, quirky people, and lots and lots of conflict. For me, one of the coolest things about this story is that Colin Meloy made a magical, Impassable Wilderness in the middle of Portland BELIEVABLE. How cool is that?

ARC GIVEAWAY

On Friday, I will choose one random commenter to win my copy of Wildwood (many thanks, HarperCollins!).

Rules:
  1. You must be a follower of my blog
  2. You must leave a comment on this post
  3. Extra entries for spreading the word: twitter, FB, blog posts, sidebars... just tell me in the comments what you did (1 entry each)
Good luck and happy Tuesday!

18 comments:

Natalie Aguirre said...

I just heard about this from Steven Malk,Colin's agent, at WriteOnCon. I SO want to read this. I posted the contest on Facebook.

It was definitely worth waiting until Tuesday for your review,BTW.

Old Kitty said...

Yay for sticking with it and discovering just how fab it truly is despite its length!! Thanks for the review!

Good luck to everyone entering!

Take care
x

Theresa Milstein said...

Not too many MG's are very thick. I'm glad it was a page turner. I'll share on FB.

Jonathon Arntson said...

One word sums up my feelings for this book: GIDDY!

Thanks for the review.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing your review of the book.

Jemi Fraser said...

Sounds like a good read! :)

Kristin Lenz said...

I just discovered your blog - thanks to Natalie Aguirre above! My daughter has just entered the middle-grade reading stage, and I love sharing these books with her - Wildwood sounds perfect for us.

storyqueen said...

I have heard lots of good things about this book.

Looks very cool.

Shelley

Tales of Whimsy said...

Sounds very cool. Great contest.
(not an entry)

xlacrimax said...

Sounds good (though I have the same problem with thick books - I want to put them aside just because they are like that :s)
Count an entry if int. :)

Lenny Lee said...

hi miss shannon! wow! you know how much i love animals and the woods and wild stuff so for sure i could wanna read this book. im crossing my fingers i could win it.
...hugs from lenny

Shari said...

It sounds absolutely wicked! (And by wicked I mean really good) Thanks for the giveaway. I love those.

Valerie Geary said...

Me, me! Pick me! I also posted this on Facebook.

Carolyn V said...

The book sounds so good. So how fast do you read a book Shannon? You always have something new up on the blog! I'm impressed. ;)

Susan Kaye Quinn said...

Sounds awesome! :)

Anonymous said...

ooooh. this is one of my most anticipated books this year. cross fingers. I am following you now and will go post on FB. Love the Decemberists, but that's not the only reason it's on my "to read" list. It just sounds like a lovely story - the kind I would have read again and again as a child.

Caroline Starr Rose said...

Sounds so good!

Joanne R. Fritz said...

Welcome back! Glad you had a nice summer vacation. And what a great review! Don't include me in your giveaway, though, because I already have an ARC. Just haven't read it yet...

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