Bera the One-Headed Troll

Gr 4–8—Content to harvest pumpkins with her owl sidekick, Winslowe, Bera is a one-headed troll (most trolls have two heads) who has never left her island. When she saves a human baby, Bera realizes she must leave her quiet solitude and seek help from the ancestors in order to return the infant to the land of the humans. On the way, Bera meets friendly hedgehogs and fights off multiheaded trolls, goblins, and Cloote, the former Head Witch of the Troll King, a Baba Yaga-esque character who travels in a Viking boat with legs. Can meek and gentle Bera protect the child? Evoking an eerie, surreal mood, Orchard's rust-colored illustrations, populated by odd, grotesque creatures, are similar to Dave McKean's art in Neil Gaiman's Coraline. A masterly artist, Orchard makes excellent use of shading and light. There is sweet humor to be found throughout, from Bera's first encounter with dirty diapers to her attempts to use old and out-of-date maps. Persistent, resourceful, respectful of her ancestors, and true to herself, Bera is a heroine with heart.