by Colin Meloy
First published 2011
Prue McKeel is walking with her baby brother Mac through Portland when a flock of crows sweeps down and carries him into the Impassable Wilderness, a dense forest that borders the city and that no one is supposed to enter. Prue goes in anyway. Her classmate Curtis follows her, and the two of them land in the middle of something much bigger than a rescue. The forest has a name among its inhabitants: Wildwood. It is home to talking animals, warring factions, and figures who want to control the whole territory. What starts as Prue trying to get her brother back turns into a fight over the freedom of an entire world. The deeper the two kids go, the harder it becomes to walk away. Wildwood is the first book in a trilogy by Colin Meloy, lead singer of the Decemberists, with more than eighty illustrations by Carson Ellis, including six full-color plates.
Genres: adventure, fantasy, young-adult, childrens, middle-grade
Vibes: adventurous, epic, imaginative, immersive, lyrical, whimsical
Tropes: chosen-one, fish-out-of-water, found-family, quest-narrative
Setting: Portland, Wildwood, Impassable Wilderness
Period: 21st-century
576 pages · Paperback · Storytide
Content warnings: kidnapping