The Wonderling - Softcover

Bartok, Mira

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1536208906 ISBN 13: 9781536208900

Publisher: Candlewick, 2019

Synopsis

“Arthur’s Dickensian steampunk world is richly imagined and gorgeously described. . . . This story of friendship, hope, and heroics will delight adventure seekers.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

Welcome to Miss Carbunkle’s Home for Wayward and Misbegotten Creatures, an orphanage for young groundlings (part human, part animal) run by a cunning villainess. For lonely Number Thirteen, a shy, one-eared, foxlike creature, it is the only home he has ever known. When he meets a bird groundling named Trinket, Number Thirteen gains two things: a real name (Arthur, like the good king in the old stories) and a best friend. Trinket and Arthur escape over the high walls of the orphanage and embark on an adventure that will take them out into the wider world and to Arthur’s true destiny: to become the Wonderling and save music for everyone. Rife with steampunk inventions, magical plot twists, and finely detailed illustrations, the paperback edition of Mira Bartók’s debut novel is sure to enchant.

About this title

About the Author

Mira Bartok is a writer and artist whose New York Times best-selling memoir, The Memory Palace A Memoir, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography. The Wonderling is her first novel for young readers. She lives in Western Massachusetts.

Review

Bartok's language is full of rich description and effulgent inventories of food and places...Bartok's lovely, detailed illustrations and drawings throughout support the sense of enchantment in this imaginative adventure. Captivating and with great potential as a read-aloud.
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Written with clear and detailed descriptions, this novel drops readers into a strange, magical, mythical, and mechanical world...Bearing some similarities to Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" with shades of Erin Hunter's "Warriors" series, Bartok's title will appeal to readers who appreciate anthropomorphized animal characters, high-stakes adventure, and Dickensian settings. A stellar new contribution to fantasy that should find a place in every middle grade collection.
--School Library Journal (starred review)

Bartok's prose is as alluring as the story she weaves. Every song, every food, every object adds texture to the world, layering the known, the unknown and the magical...A gentle, modern-day nod to the children's books of old, The Wonderling is a sweet, uplifting adventure.
--Shelf Awareness Pro

Bartok doesn't delve into the origins of groundlings but uses them successfully as a stand-in for other disenfranchised groups, with the groundlings subjected to derision and menial tasks by most of the upper classes. Music plays an important role in the story, both as a means of connection and a force for good...Bartok gives readers a richly imagined fantasy landscape to lose themselves in.
--Publishers Weekly

This beguiling fiction debut from Bartok (The Memory Palace, 2011) is just the ticket for readers who revel in quest stories, or those with a soft spot for animal fantasies. Bartok carefully constructs her world, gracing it with a classed society, music, and a touch of steampunk.
--Booklist Online

Edition details

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1536208906
• ISBN 13: 9781536208900
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 464
• Illustrator: Bartok Mira