Dreamwood

Gr 5–8—Lucy Darrington, daughter of an expert on all things supernatural, has run away from a prim and proper girls' school to find her father, whose work has taken him to a remote part of the Pacific Northwest called the Saarthe. Upon her arrival, she finds that he is missing and being blamed for a terrible scourge called "Rust" being visited upon the area. Lucy, who fervently believes that her father could never do such a thing, intends to prove that the indigenous peoples' sacred dreamwood trees could cure the other trees of the Rust plague, and she sets out on a dangerous quest to find her father, accompanied by Pete Knightly, a local boy, and financed by a wealthy Saarthe man. The two face terrible dangers which they counter with Lucy's steampunk anti-ghost devices. Indigenous lore, supernatural forces, human greed, and the children's pluck combine for a rollicking story with moments of violence and real beauty. Jennifer Grace's narration is steady, with a knack for building the pace whenever something bad is about to happen. She successfully portrays the sometimes frustratingly stubborn Lucy and skeptical Pete. This adventure, with its elements of the supernatural and human strengths and weaknesses, will excite listeners, especially in its breakneck second half.—B. Allison Gray, Goleta Library, Santa Barbara, CA