Horn Book Review
High-spirited twelve-year-old Gracie Lockwoods world is almost like oursexcept that the planet is flat, dragons exist (and migrate), and poltergeists stopped the Industrial Revolution from getting very far. When the arrival of an ominous Dark Cloud seems to portend her younger brother Sams death, there is only one way for the family to escape fate: by leaving for the fabled Extraordinary World from which no one has ever returned. The Lockwoodsalong with Gracies classmate Oliver, new in town after being orphaned in a sasquatch attackset out on a cross-country Winnebago trip in search of a guardian angel and a ship that will take them off the edge of their world to, it is implied, our own. Gracies family is both aggravating and endearing, full of sibling rivalry and sibling loyalty, with one almost-perfect parent and another who is given to frequent bouts of silent stupor. Anderson wisely allows the intricate details of Gracies world to emerge gradually through her protagonists sharp, sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant diary entries. Although readers may be left with questions (how does gravity work on a flat planet? Why are McDonalds and TJ Maxx so prevalent in a semi-industrialized world?), Gracie herself is concerned with far more important questions of honesty and survival. Subtle nods to contemporary issues, notably climate change, shape the books themes without detracting from the fast-moving plot. sarah rettger(c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In her diary, Gracie Lockwood records her family's flight for the fabled Extraordinary World, where magic doesn't exist. Twelve-year-old Gracie lives in Cliffden, Maine, with her eccentric, meteorologist father; hippie-manqu, musician mother; irritating older sister, Millie; and sweet, sickly little brother, Sam. In hopes of escaping the Dark Cloud that has clearly come to take Sam, the family piles into a Winnebago to head south and then west, chasing the hope that the Extraordinary World both exists and will be a safe haven. Along the way they pick up Oliver, orphaned in a sasquatch attack, and then a sasquatch, a trio of pegasuses, and a guardian angel named Virgil. Gracie's sparkling narrative voice is funny, smart, and convincingly ingenuous. Anderson builds a magic-filled world where the Industrial Revolution "got sort of cut in half," dragons migrate annually from Britain to South America, and 7-Elevens line the highways till the wilderness takes over. Though Anderson acknowledges the indigenous peoples of North America and those brought over as slaves, her story is firmly grounded in an alternative, modern United States populated by the descendants of Europeans. Gracie and her family are tested sorely, and readers will be rooting for them to the last page. An endearing narrator, a beguiling world that accommodates both mermaids and Pixy Stix, and a genuinely moving family story propel this adventure for readers who don't look too hard at the details. (Fantasy. 9-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.