Willodeen
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4.6 • 9 Ratings
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
From #1 New York Times bestselling author of Odder and The One and Only Ivan, Katherine Applegate, a heartfelt story about a girl who risks everything to help a handmade creature who comes to life.
The earth is old and we are not, and that is all you must remember . . .
Eleven-year-old Willodeen adores creatures of all kinds, but her favorites are the most unlovable beasts in the land: strange beasts known as “screechers.” The villagers of Perchance call them pests, even monsters, but Willodeen believes the animals serve a vital role in the complicated web of nature.
Lately, though, nature has seemed angry indeed. Perchance has been cursed with fires and mudslides, droughts and fevers, and even the annual migration of hummingbears, a source of local pride and income, has dwindled. For as long as anyone can remember, the tiny animals have overwintered in shimmering bubble nests perched atop blue willow trees, drawing tourists from far and wide. This year, however, not a single hummingbear has returned to Perchance, and no one knows why.
When a handmade birthday gift brings unexpected magic to Willodeen and her new friend, Connor, she’s determined to speak up for the animals she loves, and perhaps even uncover the answer to the mystery of the missing hummingbears.
A timely and timeless tale about our fragile earth, and one girl’s fierce determination to make a difference.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Employing flawlessly simple, candid prose that belies deeper messages, Newbery Medalist Applegate again considers the complex relationship between humans and the natural world. Before Willodeen's family died in the Great September Fire when she was just six, her father taught her to love and respect animals, especially the most unlovable. Now, Willodeen's kind but occasionally cantankerous guardians don't seem to mind when the 10-year-old skips school to look for screechers. The sharp-toothed, foul-smelling animals are hated—and hunted—by Perchance's townspeople, who prefer sweet-faced, tourist-garnering hummingbears. Lately, though, both species have been disappearing. After Willodeen witnesses the killing of an elderly screecher, new friend Connor crafts one for her birthday that magically comes to life. Now, Willodeen must overcome her aversion to people to protect it while trying to solve the mystery of the animals' disappearance. Via imaginative depictions, including interspersed chapters from the screecher's point of view, Applegate brings an intimate cast of default-white human characters and scene-stealing mythical ones to life. Fiercely protective Willodeen is easy to champion, and her belief that "nature knows more than we do" is a message worth sharing. Ages 8–12.
Customer Reviews
Nature is a superb mentor
Willodeen’s cover lures everyone. Do not resist adorableness. Do not dismiss occasional magic. Both help include more readers in subtle complexities to follow. A list of what’s here would be long. And lists are spoiler-y and crude for books that speak with quiet grace, like this one.
Willodeen illustrates the delicate links of the natural world with clarity. Those who quietly observe, as Willodeen does, assist all by noticing things otherwise unseen. Observers make connections. Thoughtful, methodical observers are scientists, whether they realize it or no.
Nature’s details are no longer deeply familiar and well known, especially in the developed world. In an age when we are affecting nature, that change is dangerous.
Katherine Applegate writes often about caring for parts of the world. She has written nine books on themes that relate, including Willodeen and Odder (9/2022). Willodeen is the first work clearly focused on the health of our home. It is realism about our world, despite fantasy creatures and a whisper of magic.
Children are savvy, and parents listen carefully to their kids. So my focus is children’s books, especially read aloud (since listening age is above reading age), and about caring for the planet. They gift rare leverage to whole families. Read Willodeen as carefully as she reads the world around her. Because complexity, deftly revealed, is stunningly beautiful.
Quiet strengths of children’s fiction include clear language, and thoughtful choices about the balance of loss and hope. Statistics and scientific language are absent; action and hope are here. Not surprisingly, Willodeen includes loss. Losses are hard to evade over time. How we proceed amid loss is important, and a model helps.
Children’s books are often underestimated. Adults may guess the hard parts are avoided. But acknowledging difficulty and finding a way past is a gift to readers. Kids know hardship is out there, and the best children’s books brave it with them.
All of the author’s books about caring for parts of the world (and how):
1 The One and Only Ivan (our treatment of other species, also endangered)
2 Home of the Brave (displacement, told in verse)
3 Crenshaw (poverty in a land of plenty)
4 wishtree (acceptance of others, in a world of increasing displacement)
5 Endling: The Last (extinction, a trilogy, in epic fantasy)
6 Endling: The First (2nd of 3)
7 Endling: The Only (3rd of 3)
8 Willodeen (the complex connections of our world)
9 Odder (9/2022, sea otters & told in verse)
Boring and overtly preachy
This was a real miss on our nightly reading. Poor character development, poor story line. The message was the focus to the detriment of any real emotions or relatability. Couldn’t wait to get it over with.