Debut children’s author Kelly Barnhill’s The Mostly True Story of Jack is a delightful, imaginative tale. It’s a story of friendship, family, and sacrifice, all wrapped up in a mostly true (depending on how you look at it) magical mystery about a boy, a town, and the choice to do the right thing.
Jack’s parents are getting a divorce, so he has to go stay in a small farm town in Iowa with his only relatives, an old aunt and uncle who live in the strangest house he’s ever seen. It’s not like Jack will miss much from his home in San Francisco since he has no friends and no one (not even his family!) really seems to notice him anyway. Then, inexplicably, Jack makes friends with three local kids in Hazelwood; he makes an enemy of the town bully; discovers a local history book that seems to tell a story that is scarily familiar to him; and he feels like the house is trying to tell him something. He doesn’t (won’t!) believe in magic, even though there are a lot of clues pointing towards a magical explanation for the strange things that go on in the house and in the town. He knows something isn’t right in the town or with him (his skin has been itching like crazy since he arrived) but unless he’s willing to accept that what appears to be true isn’t always true, he may not be able to unravel the mysteries of his past, his family, and the town of Hazelwood until it’s too late.
The Mostly True Story of Jack is a younger, less dark version of the 2010 young adult novel The Replacement which also centered on the Faerie Queen’s child, given in “trade” for the sacrifice of a human child. In both narratives, humankind makes a bargain with the faeries to harness the power of Nature for the benefit of the town and the people living on the magical site. In both cases, however, something goes wrong with the exchange, and the magic is darkened, people suffer, and the imbalance of power makes for a dangerous and foreboding secret everyone knows but no one will admit to. Barnhill creates a world where the slowly awakening magic trembles just beneath the surface, hinting at the power (both for good and for evil) that will be unleashed when The Lady and Her Other fully awake. Scary things are hinted at, people’s greed and fear are on full display, but at the same time, there’s hope, transformation, joy and love growing under and through this small town and the people who make their homes there.
- Posted by Cori