Between Monsters and Marvels
This standalone, middle-grade story combines fantasy and magic in a vague historical setting that might be the early 1900s. Twelve-year-old Dare Coates lives on a sea island, a place where monsters once existed, but are supposedly gone now. Her beloved father, the Captain of the Guard, is killed while out on patrol. Her mother very quickly marries the Governor of the island, and Dare is shuttled off per sailing ship to the mainland. During the trip, she discovers that monsters are still around, and may be responsible for her father’s death. In the unpleasant and dangerous City-on-the-Pike, Dare lives with her aunt, a kindly retired actress. She makes two friends (or does she?), and finds a treasured pet (or does she?). Nothing is as it seems, and danger and misdirection threaten everywhere. Do monsters really still exist? Who or what killed Dare’s father? Which are the most dangerous, the real monsters (if any) or the Governor and some of the City-on-the-Pike citizens?
Dare must battle confusing illusions as well as real dangers as she realizes monsters can sometimes be marvels, and people can sometimes be monsters. I liked some of the creatures Wishingrad drew, although it troubled me that they could be treated very badly at times. Anyone who has loved a pet would understand. There was sadness in this book that I think might be upsetting for sensitive children, since it was upsetting for me. People and animals die; this story is not sugar-coated. The prose is luminous, with a strange, flowing effect that carries a reader along as if sharing a night-time dream with the author. Recommended with the reservations mentioned above.
