Flutter

March 28, 2011
Set in the 1970s, Moulton's charming debut explores the challenges and rewards of sisterhood. Nine-year-old Maple is devastated when her third sister, Lily, is born prematurely, with a weak heart. Determined to help, Maple decides to make a 30-mile trek into the Vermont woods to visit Old Lady Hope, the Wise Woman of the Mountains (a folkloric character of local legend), seeking a miraculous cure. When Maple's 11-year-old sister, Dawn, catches her leaving, she insists on coming along. The sisters make a fraught trip downriver and into the woods; their travels on land are no less suspenseful, as they encounter everything from a black bear to poachers who mistake them for animals. Throughout the turbulent journey, Maple remains optimistic and on the lookout for miracles, big and small. The girls' knowledge of the wilderness serves them well, and Moulton doesn't minimize the dangers they face or the consequences of their headstrong decision. While significant suspension of belief is required, readers willing to do so will find a heartfelt tale of familial love, with just a touch of magic. Ages 8â12.

April 15, 2011

Almost relentless peril besets two resourceful girls who seek a miracle cure for their ailing newborn sister in Vermont's mountains.

Maple, 9 1/2, and her older sister Dawn set out in search of the "Wise Woman of the Mountain," a folkloric formation in the Green Mountains, and "her" curative waters. What ensues is nonstop danger, making for fast reading. This doesn't add up to necessarily believable reading, however, as the sisters' adventures, which include encounters with a bear, rapids and poachers, would daunt adults with wilderness experience. While readers will turn pages to discover how all this is resolved and will sympathize with the girls' motives for the trek, they'll likely not buy that youngsters of these ages would believe in a magical presence and potion, and the sheer number of dangers strains credulity. Disappointing is the butterfly metaphor: Maple continually notices a monarch that acts as an encouraging totem and spirit guide at various dramatic stages throughout the novel. In the end, this turns out to be an unnecessary motif, because the girls ultimately learn that love and pulling together are really what effect miracles. Maple's first-person/present-tense, sometimes repetitive narration, which places readers in every hazardous moment, sometimes gets bogged down with inconsistent use of contractions.

A generally realistic portrait of sisterly conflict, and undemanding readers will enjoy the fast-paced action. (Adventure. 9-12)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

July 1, 2011

Gr 3-5-A moderately successful blending of a tender family story with a hair-raising adventure. Nine-year-old Maple feels unsettled when a monarch butterfly-out of season in chilly October Vermont-lights on the kitchen window; shortly afterwards, her mother goes into premature labor and baby Lily is born, small and weak. When feisty Maple overhears her father saying, "I am praying for a miracle," she believes that if she can only collect water from the fountain of the legendary old woman in the mountain, she'll have her miracle. Maple's first-person voice is authentic as she plots the dangerous journey and argues with her older sister who thinks it's too risky. Determined to save the baby, Maple won't be dissuaded, and eventually the sisters escape their grandmother's watchful eye and embark on an action-packed adventure that includes the hazards of a raging river, an encounter with a black bear, and poachers shooting deer-and almost the sisters. The use of the monarch butterfly, which appears several times during the journey as a sort of guardian spirit (and eventually accompanies them to the hospital), feels a little artificial, and some of the figurative language is awkward: "My throat twists like tree roots that have stood too long together." But the page-turner of a survival story, and the ultimate resolution that love, in this case a family's love for a baby, is the true miracle, will offer a satisfying read.-Caroline Ward, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.