Willodeen
by Katherine Applegate; illus. by Charles Santoso
Intermediate    Feiwel    272 pp.    g
9/21    978-1-250-14740-0    $16.99
e-book ed.  978-1-250-14741-7    $9.99

Applegate’s (Wishtree, rev. 11/17; The One and Only Bob, rev. 7/20) latest novel is set in a town that is home to two creatures unfamiliar to us but affected by similar environmental issues. The village of Perchance has put a bounty on “screechers,” animals whose odor and appearance threaten the tourist industry; meanwhile, the small flying “hummingbears” that attract visitors are also ­disappearing at an alarming rate. ­Ten-year-old ­Willodeen lost her family and home to wildfire, but with the support of the two elderly women who took her in, she upholds her father’s respect for the environment and remembers his words: “Nature, Willodeen, knows more than we do, and she probably always will.” Like the unlovable screechers she admires and her pet hummingbear whose singed wings prevent it from joining its kind, Willodeen struggles in this community. She is most at ease alone in nature where she observes and takes notes. When Connor, another independent child determined to win her friendship, brings her to a town meeting, her anger at the villagers’ environmental negligence results in a chain of events (and possible magic) that could ultimately right the balance of nature. With gentle line drawings throughout, this accessible fantasy offers hope as well as a tender examination of people re-learning to work together to care for one another and the world around them.

From the November/December 2021 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.