Review by Booklist Review
Hot on the heels of the first part of the film adaptation of the musical Wicked, a new prequel about Elphaba's childhood is on its way (dedicated to Idina Menzel, Cynthia Erivo, and all the Elphabas in between). We know some of the green-skinned witch's childhood from the rest of the volumes in Maguire's Wicked Years series, but this edition fills in gaps, writing of her mother's death in a humid jungle, her strained relationship with sister, Nessarose, her discovery of Animals, glimmers of her someday powers, and the characters who recognized that her sharp intelligence had potential. While some would argue that the foray is indulgent, fans of Elphaba and of Maguire's work will be thrilled to once again venture into Oz and discover new characters, cities, and adventures besides. Readers who enjoy the musical or who have only read Wicked will be able to appreciate this as a stand-alone prequel, while fans of the series will eat up the Easter eggs and origin stories. Taken on its own, Elphie is an emotional coming-of-age story that thrums with injustice, regret, and the complicated characters who made a young girl into the serious, stubborn witch destined to take on all of Oz.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The recent surge in Wicked's popularity will mean a flurry of interest in this prequel to the musical's source material.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Bestseller Maguire explores Elphaba Thropp's origins in this charming prequel to Wicked. Dragged around the marshlands by her traveling minister father, Frexspar, green-skinned Elphie grows up isolated from all children other than her younger siblings. She doesn't know much about her father's work, only that he is propelled by a personal mission to find and apologize to the family of the prophet Turtle Heart, whose death Elphie's parents feel responsible for. By the time Elphie is 13, Frexspar's mission leads them to Ovvels, a small town in the south of Oz, where they stay a while, allowing Elphie to begin to carve a path for herself despite her dermatological difference. Charting Elphie's growth from a young child to a prospective student at Shiz University, Maguire enchants with his whimsical narrative voice and the detailed wonders of the world he's spent so many years playing in. This is a must-read for fans of both the original novel and the Broadway musical. Agent: Moses Cardona, John Hawkins and Assoc. (Mar.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
It's not easy being green, as this prequel to Maguire's Wicked series amply shows. Everyone has parents, but few are as flawed as those who brought Elphaba--Elphie, here--into the world. Pop is an emotionally unavailable missionary from Munchkinland, working among the poor Quadling laborers of Wend Hardings, "sheep-shit country." Mom often keeps a breast exposed, hopeful of catching the attention of someone, anyone, who'll pay attention to her: "A need to be seen. By men." It being a standard trope of children's literature that daughters must live without their mothers, mom has to check out fairly early in the proceedings, leaving Elphie to take care of her armless--so we are frequently reminded--sister and a brother who's a bundle of misdirected energy. There's not much love in evidence, and of course the absence of love is an essential ingredient in the recipe for producing evil people. In Maguire's telling, Elphie, who "makes wishes on falling stars still," begs for our sympathy, but then does something just awful enough--for example, picking viciously on poor armless Nessa--to lose it. Elphie's need for connection is met, at least in some small part, by her relationship to animals: She's gifted in communicating with "polter-Monkey[s]" and dwarf bears, whom Maguire, nodding to current headlines, calls "migrants on the run." Indeed, a subtle political undercurrent runs throughout, with Elphie searching for connection with a wise Indigenous man who "went off to the imperialists to tell their military to stop sending troops to build that highway of yellow steps." Not much happens in Maguire's talky pages, certainly as compared to the previous Wicked books, but he's constructing a psychological backstory that prepares the way for Elphie/Elphaba's turn to the dark side. "Hurt can distend rationality," he writes, and that's just so. A bit of a slog and a bit of a downer, but essential for Elphaba fans. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
