PRO CONNECT
JoyDaunisPhotos.com
Donna Marie Robb is the debut author of Halfling. After years of writing down her dreams, Halfling was brought to "life" and the strong heroine, Remmi Clearwater, was created.
As a children's librarian in Los Angeles, Donna Marie Robb considers education and literacy of the utmost importance. One reason why her website has included curriculum for home educators and teachers.
Several of Donna's short stories have appeared in literary magazines such as Wild Violet, Skyline, Femspec, Tales of the Talisman, and the anthology Story Sprouts. She has also reviewed children’s books for School Library Journal.
Donna is an avid traveler, with her husband, Ron. Together they have journeyed across the globe from Antartica to Africa!
“The result is reminiscent of the Oz stories of L. Frank Baum: the reader becomes emotionally invested in the characters while still enjoying the frivolity of the setting.”
– Kirkus Reviews
A middle-grade debut novel tells the story of a girl torn between her native dream world and an alien reality.
Fourteen-year-old Remmi Clearwater works as a drone in the Cavern Lands of Penumbra. Her masters think that they have mind-drained away her magical talents, but Remmi retains them, keeping them hidden as she plots her escape. Penumbra is in Dreamearth, the fantastic parallel world to Realearth. Realearth visitors only enter Dreamearth in their dreams. Remmi’s ability to create illusions—to disguise herself by temporarily taking on a different form—comes from the fact that she is a Halfling, born to a Dreamearth mother and a Realearth father. Such offspring are feared for their unpredictable powers: “They can manipulate the surroundings and even hurl people great distances with just a thought. They’ve even been known to cross over into Realearth and convince people they were blasted gods.” Remmi manages to flee Penumbra and put her magic to use elsewhere in the Dreamearth tourism industry while still attempting to uncover the secret of her origins—and the fates of her parents. Despite people’s opinions of Halflings, when a cataclysm threatens Dreamearth, Remmi may be the only one who can save it. Robb tells her story with a sense of fun and wonder that is so often missing from contemporary fantasy. Her prose is elegantly simple, conjuring wondrous images: “Not ordinary clouds, as I’d often seen from the ground. These appeared to be animals with thick, cottony fleeces. Like clouds, they faintly resembled a variety of creatures.” The author treats the plot seriously even as the world in which it is set—with place names like the Archetypal Sea and the Collective Unconsciousness Forest—winks at the reader. The result is reminiscent of the Oz stories of L. Frank Baum: the reader becomes emotionally invested in the characters while still enjoying the frivolity of the setting. Standard tropes of the genre abound, but there is an originality to the premise and vision that keeps the story fresh. The ending, in particular, is unexpectedly affecting.
A riveting, old-fashioned fantasy tale with a resilient heroine.
Pub Date: Nov. 25, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5398-4154-8
Page count: 298pp
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
Halfling by Donna Marie Robb (Book Promotional Trailer)
Day job
Librarian
Hometown
Los Angeles, California
Passion in life
Writing, reading, film, hiking, traveling and exploring new cultures and foods!
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.