The Road to Ever After
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Part Benjamin Button, part Harold and Maud, part Brian Selznick and part Neil Gaiman, this is a unique, magical story that will draw readers in and make them fall in love with both characters.
Davy David is a thirteen-year-old orphan, who lives in the bushes in a town ruled by a strict minister, Reverend Fall. A talented artist, Davy loves to draw pictures of angels in the dirt, in the early hours of the morning before the townspeople are awake. He spends his days on his own, except for a small dog, who has attached himself to Davy, often going to the library to find inspiration for his pictures of angels. One day, after chasing after a ball for some of the town's boys, he finds himself in the yard of the old boarded-up museum, now rumoured to be the home of a witch. The witch is Miss Elizabeth Flint, an elderly woman who has a proposition for Davy: drive her to her childhood home, where, it turns out, she has made the decision to die.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Davy David lives in the shadows of Brownvale, a down-on-its-luck town ruled by the ominous Parson Fall. Davy surreptitiously scratches dirt angels in the wee hours, until an unfortunate encounter with the reverend forces him to skip town. Coincidentally, town recluse (and supposed witch) Miss Flint also wants to escape Brownvale, and she hires Davy as her driver (never mind that he is only 13 and can't drive). What follows is a grand adventure full of surprises and inexplicable mysteries, culminating in a bittersweet ending that will stay with readers. Miss Flint and Davy are exact opposites she is cantankerous and wily, he is guileless and kind and Young (the Dustlands trilogy) gradually builds a tender, believable friendship between them. Their road trip mishaps are amusing (several instances of grand theft auto are involved), and the mysteries that surface will have readers riveted. Gorgeous writing combines with a hauntingly bleak near-future setting, a whiff of holiday magic, and a transcendent story arc to make this novel feel like the classic it deserves to become. Ages 8 12.
