Backwards Moon by Mary Losure (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Backwards Moon by Mary Losure Kate Quealy-Gainer Losure, Mary Backwards Moon. Holiday House, 2014 134p ISBN 978-0-8234-3160-1 $16.95 R Gr. 3-5 [Correction] As the two youngest witches in their coven, Bracken and Nettle spend their days flying on their broomsticks among the ravens and conversing with marmots, but their peaceful idyll is disrupted when they see two humans in their valley—a valley that is supposed to be inaccessible to mortals under the protection of the Veil. As it turns out, the Veil is weakening, as are the eldest witches in the coven. Nettle and Bramble are forced out into the human world to find the Door, the rumored entrance to another protected land and also the very same thing their two mothers [End Page 164] were searching for when they went missing years ago. With the help of a few human friends made along the way and one loquacious raccoon, Nettle and Bracken find the door; they also, however, discover their mothers, living in the human world with no real memory of their formerly witchy lives and the daughters they left behind. The plotting’s a bit slight but it’s also straightforward, making this cozy fantasy particularly accessible to genre newbies. Bracken and Nettle are distinct characters, each with their strengths and weaknesses, and Losure lets both the girls simply be themselves, allowing Nettle her stubbornness and Bracken her passivity even at the end of the book, in lieu of having them learn some moral lesson about their flaws. The situation with their mothers is resolved with a similarly realistic and bittersweet tone, as the resilient girls go through the Door, accepting that they must leave their mothers behind to move forward. A quick fantasy and an interesting character study, this will find an audience among readers who are just past chapter books but not quite ready for the likes of Diana Wynne Jones. Copyright © 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois