โ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ผ, ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ.โโA. Deborah Baker
Wizard of Oz meets Alice in Wonderland, with a dose of Narnia. In the Up-and-Under, everything is a contradiction. Avery and Zib are two similar children who are also very different. When they both find themselves on the other side of the Woodward Wall, they must travel the Improbable Road and find the Improbable City where the Queen of Wands can help them find their way home. But things are not as they seem in the Up-and-Under. And a new adventure waits at every turn.
Charming. Enchanting. Captivating. Wholesome. Over the Woodward Wall is a middle-grade fantasy with catchy prose that will leave you smiling. Itโs full of silly contradictions. Impossibilities. Curiosities. Most of all, its great fun! Itโs full of queens and kings, some evil and some not. Itโs full of giant owls, girls who can turn into murders of crows, and bramble bears. Thereโs rainbow mud waterfalls, and trees with glass leaves. Everything thatโs impossible and improbable is suddenly possible and probable.
Avery and Zeb are from the same boring town, but they are very different children. Avery is prim and proper. Zeb is wild and messy. The kind of children whose parents would keep them apart. They couldnโt be more contradictory to one another. Yet, when they find themselves on the same journey, tied together, they must come to understand one another and rely on each other. Their only goal is to find their way home. But they cannot finish the journey alone. Together, they go through a transformation.
โ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐๐ป๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐ผ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ? ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ! ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐น๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐๐ต ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฑ๐ผ๐บ? ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ! ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ป๐๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ? ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ! ๐ฆ๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป, ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ธ ๐ถ๐ ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต, ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด?โ
The writing was fantastic. I loved the way the Baker added direct opposites to the sentences, writing in a contradictory manor that gave the world so much feeling. Such catchy prose. Almost like reading rhymes. It flowed so well. I found myself frequently highlighting various passages.
โ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐พ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ ๐ถ๐.โ
I adore middle grade. This was such a cute read. But it was also filled with wonderful messages for middle-graders. So very wholesome! I can definitely see kids loving this story. Even as an adult I thoroughly enjoyed it. It made me feel like I was whisked away in an Alice In Wonderland-esk world following the Yellow Brick Road looking for a lamppost in Narnia. Except in this story, itโs a rainbow road full of improbabilities. The story ends in an incomplete way that suggests there will definitely be subsequent books. After all, even though the children reach their destination, they discover that their adventure is not quite over yet. I will be looking forward to the next installment. MY RATING: 4.5/5โญ๏ธ