Wildwood - by Colin Meloy

If you're in the mood for a rollicking mystical animal adventure fantasy written by a famous musician about a lost forest paradise near Portland, Oregon, I think we've found the perfect book for you.  This long, well-written story tells of young Prue McKeel, whose life is pretty darn boring until the day her baby brother is carried away by crows.  When she sets out to find him along with her nerdy classmate Curtis, things really get interesting.  They follow the crows to an overgrown woodsy area on the outskirts of town, where they discover talking animals, hidden cities, and all sorts of surprises you would not expect outside of an adventure fantasy novel.

The animals and people in the Wildwood are at war, and as sides form and armies gather, Prue and Curtis must choose their paths and dig deep to find their courage.  Their choices are hard, but the stakes are tremendous.  Will Prue find her brother?  Can the children ever go back home?  Will the Dowager Princess and her coyote minions release the Ivy? (Okay, getting a little ahead of ourselves there...)  There are a lot of interesting plot twists, and the book builds to an exciting and powerful conclusion.

The book is charmingly old-fashioned, from the delightful illustrations (she also illustrated my favorite book, The Mysterious Benedict Society) to the characters' use of old-timey technologies. It's a fun book, and worth checking out! Note: The second book, Under Wildwood, is also available.