Far Far Away
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A National Book Award Finalist
An Edgar Award Finalist
A California Book Award Gold Medal Winner
A dark, contemporary fairy tale in the tradition of Neil Gaiman.
Jeremy Johnson Johnson hears voices. Or, specifically, one voice: the ghost of Jacob Grimm, one half of The Brothers Grimm. Jacob watches over Jeremy, protecting him from an unknown dark evil whispered about in the space between this world and the next.
But Jacob can't protect Jeremy from everything. When coltish, copper-haired Ginger Boultinghouse takes a bite of a cake so delicious it’s rumored to be bewitched, she falls in love with the first person she sees: Jeremy. In any other place, this would be a turn for the better for Jeremy, but not in Never Better, where the Finder of Occasions—whose identity and evil intentions nobody knows—is watching and waiting, waiting and watching. . . And as anyone familiar with the Brothers Grimm know, not all fairy tales have happy endings.
Veteran writer Tom McNeal has crafted a young adult novel at once grim(m) and hopeful, full of twists, and perfect for fans of contemporary fairy tales like Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book and Holly Black's Doll Bones. The recipient of five starred reviews, Publishers Weekly called Far Far Away "inventive and deeply poignant."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The ghost of Jacob Grimm one of the famous fairy-tale collecting brothers communicates with a lonely boy who is a clairaudient (someone who hears spirits) in this rich and often bone-chilling story. Trapped in "the space between" Earth and the afterlife, Jacob constantly accompanies Jeremy, offering him comfort, affection, and cerebral commentary about Jeremy's life that only the boy can hear. Jacob believes that by protecting Jeremy he can finally move on after 200 years and reunite with his deceased brother. But when Jacob fails to see the source of the danger threatening Jeremy, he must harness all of his ethereal resources to save the boy he loves and ensure a chance at a happy ending. In addition to recounting pieces from the Grimms' stories, McNeal in his first solo novel for teens weaves in fantastical fairy-tale details into this inventive and deeply poignant narrative, creating a world that hovers between realism and enchantment. Jacob's tale is menacing, at times terrifying, and often strange much like the stories collected by the Brothers Grimm. Ages 12 up.
