COMPASS TO VINLAND

A debut middle-grade novel sees a teenage loner discover his magical heritage and become embroiled in an otherworldly conflict.

Middle schooler Wren Larkin lives in Pennsylvania in a peculiar old house designed by his grandfather to resemble a gigantic shoe. Wren has an affinity with nature. He grows plants and befriends a murder of crows. But otherwise, he keeps to himself. Wren’s mother fell into a coma when he was 4 years old. His father is emotionally distant, and his eccentric aunt—the one who told him crazy stories of a magical kingdom named Vinland—died a few years back in a car accident, or so Wren was told. But Wren’s life is about to be turned upside down. The same day he thinks he sees his aunt in the fog, new girl Maria Tovar arrives at school and takes an instant liking to him. She also defends the class troublemaker, Rusty Whitaker. Before Wren knows it, the three are thrown together against a powerful Drainer (a magician who can suck the life out of any living thing). In a world suddenly bristling with magic, Wren and his new friends are armed only with three pairs of enchanted shoes that the teen’s grandfather left for them years ago in a secret room in the quirky house. Were all of his aunt’s stories true? What further secrets lie hidden in Wren’s lineage? In this series opener, Resh writes in the first person, past tense, creating in Wren a complex personality with relatable teen troubles but plenty of strength. The other characters are less nuanced—Rusty in particular is larger than life, verging on a cliché—but this perhaps is in keeping with the infusion of magic in what Wren had taken to be his own, admittedly atypical, corner of the mundane world. The prose throughout is engaging, with the author presenting an agreeable mix of description, narrative, and mostly naturalistic dialogue. The plot is absorbing and gains momentum as it goes along, displaying a wild imagination and pitting its protagonists against genuine peril. The ending may not satisfy those readers who like their books self-contained, but for those who can move directly to the sequel, there’s a great deal here to like.

An engrossing fantasy laced with inventive sparkle and dark undercurrents.