The Water and the Wild

February 9, 2015
First-time author Ormsbee introduces Lottie Fiske, a 12-year-old orphan living in a boardinghouse and called “Oddy Lottie” by her classmates. Lottie has bigger problems than name-calling, however—namely the incurable disease that threatens best friend Eliot’s life. After Lottie makes a birthday wish to help Eliot, she is whisked away to Limn, a world below her own. Once there, Lottie finds that she, her new sprite friends Oliver and Adelaide, and a halfling wisp named Fife have been decreed outlaws by the cruel king of the Southerly sprites; this is due in part to Lottie’s fame as the last surviving Fiske, a family known for uniting the Southerlies, Northerlies, and wisps. A spirited beginning turns sluggish as the group journeys through forests and dangerous swamps to save Oliver and Adelaide’s father, a healer taken hostage by the king. The novel’s hasty resolution leaves many loose ends, yet Ormsbee’s humorous descriptions (Mrs. Yates, who runs the boardinghouse where Lottie lives, “stooped like wilted spinach”) and vivid creatures, such as the dreaded but loyal Barghest, should keep many readers intrigued. Ages 8–12. Agent: Beth Phelan, Bent Agency.

February 15, 2015
Two things make 12-year-old orphan Lottie Fiske's sad life happier: her friendship with Eliot and the magical apple tree near her boardinghouse. Every year, Lottie receives birthday presents in a hole at the base of the tree-the exact presents she has requested. This year, Eliot is incurably ill, with just a few weeks to live, so she wishes for his recovery; that birthday, a white finch appears. One day Lottie discovers a sprite in her closet. Adelaide Wilfer takes her "root shooting" in the apple tree to another world layered below Lottie's. Adelaide's father is a healer (and the birthday gift-giver) working on medicine for the Otherwise Incurable. Lottie discovers she is a Halfling-half human and half sprite-and also is the Heir of Fiske, which seems to have some significance. When the cruel king of this world kidnaps Mr. Wilfer, Lottie, Adelaide, her brother, Oliver, and a halfling sprite-wisp named Fife journey to the castle to find Mr. Wilfer and the medicine for Eliot. The arduous journey involves magical creatures, a swamp of oblivion, strangling vines, travel through plague-ridden wisp territory and more. Lottie is spunky and likable; the interplay among the four travelers is engaging. Unfortunately, the protracted story introduces unexplained elements and has a weak, confusing ending. While debut author Ormsbee's use of language is laudable and the fantasy details are imaginative, they cannot compensate for the novel's flaws. (Fantasy. 10-14)

July 1, 2015

Gr 5-7-Since the death of her parents, a copper keepsake box in the roots of an old apple tree annually delivers a sometimes odd but always fitting response to Lottie Fiske's written requests. This year, however, Lottie wants something more than hair bows; she wants a cure for her best friend Eliot Walsch's terminal illness. The unexpected response is a formidable girl named Adelaide who takes Lottie "root shooting" through the apple tree to Iris Gate, the family home in a hidden world of sprites, wisps, danger, and magic. Adelaide's father, Moritasgus Wilfer, a healer and a friend of Lottie's parents, has been watching over her. He is arrested and imprisoned by the Southerly Guard who, at the behest of Starkling, King of the Southerly Court, demands that the healer turn over the medicine for the "otherwise incurable" that Lottie hopes will save Eliot. Lottie, Adelaide, her brother Oliver, and his friend Fife set out to rescue Moritasgus, and along the perilous way Lottie discovers her destiny. An eventful quest through a well-built fantasy world is a strong crowd-pleaser here offered with flavorful prose reminiscent of early Susan Cooper. Fantastical occurrences emerge organically from a well-imagined terrain peopled with inhabitants whose actions-saving a father, a friend, even an entire world-have potentially lethal consequences. Characters are effectively evoked ("Lottie Fiske, like most sharp and odd persons in this world, was having a miserable school experience. She had the audacity to not be very pretty or rich or even stupid, and at least one of these qualities was essential for a girl in a place like Kemble School.") and distinctly etched, as are the magical elements of New Albion. VERDICT Given the arcadian pace of the journey overall, the lightning-fast conclusion is somewhat anticlimactic, but readers who have engaged with this congenial world may just turn to the first page and begin again.-Janice M. Del Negro, GSLIS Dominican University, River Forest, IL

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2015
A world beneath the apple tree that grants her yearly birthday wish opens orphan Lottie's lonely existence, and deepens her quest to rid Eliot, her best friend, of an incurable disease. Learning she is half-sprite, Lottie embarks on a quest through the magical world to help Eliot and her fellow sprites. This humorous, occasionally slow-moving tale is filled with enchanting fantastical elements.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)