Into the Up - Wren Morrison - ★★★.¾

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AUTHOR: Wren Morrison
GENRE: Middle-Grade Fantasy.
PUBLICATION DATE: September 19, 2020
RATING: 3.75 stars.

A sci-fi fantasy written by a ten year old! What better way to support an upcoming young author than to read and review her work!

Maggie is woken up one night by her dad, strapped to a rocket and shot into space after a quick goodbye and no reasons about what was happening. Finding herself disoriented for some time, she soon discovers that her trusted Bunny now has the ability to talk. What follows is an adventure through space and time, literally, with duplicators and rockets, talking animals and flaming dragons, the myriad planets and the emptiness of space. The ending sets up a nice foundation for a sequel.

Maggie comes across as a typical girl: sweet, friendly and messy Bunny is not just adorably fluffy but remarkably organised, a quality that gets him big brownie points from me.

There are many other memorable characters in the book that children will surely enjoy getting to know better.

The writing is a little amateurish, but that’s expected, I suppose considering the age of the author. In fact, I am glad that her parents didn’t smoothen out all the kinks but kept the essence of her story intact. It made the content all the more believable as coming from the mind of a child. What astounded me was her creativity. The world she has brought to life with her words is amazing.

There are some children’s books that work wonderfully for adult readers too. But this isn’t one of them; we are too rigid to appreciate the free-flow narrative of a child's mind. But this was written by a child, and it was meant for a child reader, and I am sure children will adore it.

Recommended for independent readers aged 7+.

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