A pocketful of crows

This short novel spins a pretty fairy tale, winding through the seasons from bright to dark over the bones of British folklore and song. A carefree "bonny brown girl" of the "travelling folk," who borrow the bodies of woodland creatures, trades her freedom for a name and the thrill of the love of a wealthy young man. But when he betrays her for a fair village maid, she takes counsel with the elder wisdom of the forest and seeks her revenge as the only way to return to her former carefree ways. Harris (The Testament of Loki) balances her protagonist's roles as an archetype and as an individual, telling a moving story of the loss of innocence through reference-laden prose in a mythic mode, full of charms and magic. Hawkins's sweet, crow-filled pen-and-ink illustrations exude a gentle wildness and suggest that the character's brownness is about race as well as the class distinction implied by the ballad that gives the story its plot. Harris closes the piece with witchy optimism about the cycles of life, making this a cozy flight of fancy to curl up with on a chilly night. Agent: Peter Robinson, Rogers, Coleridge & White (U.K.). (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

This story centers on a young, wild, -nameless girl who understood freedom like no other. Some called her a witch, others saw her as one of the traveling folk, who ride along with wild animals and view the world through their eyes. Watching one of the village girls place a love token by the fairy tree, she begins a quest that will take her away from everything she knows, finding love and taking a name but losing much more. As the seasons progress and she discovers she must escape the world that has bound her, she learns that passion is reserved not only for love but also for revenge. VERDICT Harris (Chocolat) beautifully weaves folklore and inspiration from the Child Ballads into a longer story with vivid prose, lush settings, and characters who win your heart. Will appeal to fans of Seanan McGuire's "Wayward Children" series.-Kristi Chadwick, -Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.