LitPick Review
Salman Page is a foster child bounced from home to home all of his life. Over the years, he has learned how to not be noticed, and to never make friends, because you always have to move away. When he moves to a new school to live with foster parents Ozzy and Tina on their farm, however, that is exactly what he ends up doing. Lu Zimmer has been appointed as Salman's "Designated Buddy", not expecting much from it, but she gets quite a bit more than she bargains for-including two friends. Blos Pease is quite literal and likes things to be "just so". No one really understood or like him, until Salman came along. Little do the three know, however, that while their friendship is forming, there are outside influences on them all. Titania and Oberon- the king and queen of faerie, are fighting amongst themselves because of a promise Titania made to watch Salman until he was grown. Puck, the mischievous messenger, is forced to go back and forth between the two, interfering in the lives of the three unsuspecting friends.
Opinion:
When you throw together three unlikely friends and the tricky messenger of fey, you end up with an interesting and warm tale of friendship and a wonderful read. When reading this book, I was sucked in by the intriguing characters and warm fall feeling, setting an overall tone of warmth. Switching between the perspectives of each character also gave the book a curious feel as you got to see the experiences of each one. The characters were believable and unique, each one with their own quirks and personalities that help shape the odd and indescribable feel of the book. Overall, the writing was lovely, but simple. The book continued to feel warm through the suspenseful bits. Despite this, however, the author still managed to evoke that feeling of anticipation throughout those scenes. I loved the book for what it was, but it isn't exactly the best book I've ever read. I'd recommend this book for readers ages 10 and up.
