A Story Unfinished

What worked:
The book opens with the story of Ambrosia, The Lone Vigilante, as she faces off with ten nasty bandits. Readers quickly learn these pages are from a story being written by a seventh grader named Rose who never finishes what she writes. Rose lacks confidence in herself and doesn’t think any of her stories are good enough to complete. As new characters appear, the author provides italicized paragraphs from Rose’s stories to introduce them. There’s a fearsome-looking man made of stone who’s really gentle as a lamb and a jelly-like blob that is fittingly called Blobby. However, Rose imagines a character to help during one of the worst moments of her life but that old woman becomes the villain in this book. It’s a creative twist to the plot.
Ambrosia climbs through Rose’s bedroom window and becomes her confident, brash ally. Ambrosia is skeptical when Rose says she created her but Ambrosia realizes something strange is happening. Her direct approach is refreshing and admirable in some ways but she’s the opposite personality of Rose. Her tendency is to be blunt and take action without fully considering the consequences. She provides an interesting contrast to Rose whose lack of confidence makes her less decisive but an unexpected development means time is running out on Rose’s new friends.
Rose must deal with divorce and friendship just like many other middle-graders. Her mother is preparing the house for the upcoming move and Rose has happy and sad memories of her father. She misses having him around the house but then realizes he wasn’t consistently part of her home life anyhow. Rose begins to spend time with a classmate who has similar problems in her house. Her parents aren’t divorced but their constant fighting makes her wonder if divorce might make things better. Rose’s best friend is Oliver and he feels they’re losing their closeness. As a result, he does something impulsive that has serious consequences.
What didn’t work as well:
Oliver is introduced as Rose’s best friend early in the book but he ends up having a minor role in the overall story. It’s an unexpected, unusual development that may confuse readers. It seems like he should reappear and have a more significant impact on Rose’s life. What is their relationship moving forward?
The final verdict:
The author creates innovative surprises mainly through Rose’s unfinished stories and the antagonist’s transformation. Young readers will enjoy the variety of strange characters and personalities and the surprising climax. This book will appeal to middle-grade fantasy lovers and I recommend you give it a shot.