Over the Woodward Wall

 Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker  (Seanan McGuire)  204 pages

"Avery is an exceptional child. Everything he does is precise, from the way he washes his face in the morning, to the way he completes his homework – without complaint, without fuss, without prompt. Zib is also an exceptional child, because all children are, in their own way. But where everything Avery does and is can be measured, nothing Zib does can possibly be predicted, except for the fact that she can always be relied upon to be unpredictable. They live on the same street.  They live in different worlds. On an unplanned detour from home to school one morning, Avery and Zib find themselves climbing over a stone wall into the Up and Under – an impossible land filled with mystery, adventure and the strangest creatures. And they must find themselves and each other if they are to also find their way out and back to their own lives."

Woot!  Another great story from Seanan McGuire!!  Her writing is beautiful, evocative and so descriptive that you can imagine yourself right there with Avery and Zib. I really like how she writes characters who are children -- they are interesting and sometimes exceptional, but never precious and she never dumbs things down. This book reminded me of the best Neil Gaiman books (back when he wrote stories for adults like Neverwhere and Anansi Boys). 

I enjoy how the author weaves together a story where you cannot trust that everything will be ok. You can't trust that Avery and Zib will meet other characters who will be nice and good, and you also can't assume that those other characters are who they say they are. There's a lovely, unbalanced quality to the story and there's no shying away from things that might be uncomfortable just because Avery and Zib are children. I love that.  More, please!!!