Brightwood

July 1, 2016
An intriguing mix of fantasy, mystery, and mental illness. Home alone at Brightwood Hall, 11-year-old Daisy worries about her missing mother with each passing day. Her unease grows when a stranger arrives--a man who seems to want Brightwood all to himself. Despite her naivete, readers will connect with Daisy and her dilemma. Bound to her home by agoraphobia and a sense of duty to protect Brightwood, Daisy seeks helps from the black-and-white specter of a girl named Frank. Brilliantly conceived by Unsworth, Frank is both a figment of Daisy's imagination and the embodiment of Daisy's cognitive development and character growth. Frank knows what Daisy knows and nothing more, but she forces Daisy to confront the truth about her situation. Brightwood seems like a magical place filled with wonder, animate objects, and talking animals, but as Daisy battles her fears and fights back against the man who wants Brightwood, she slowly comes to terms with the possibility that Brightwood is a place built on unresolved grief and mental illness. The book's compassionate handling of sensitive subject matter is a trade-off for its tidy, uncomplicated ending, which doesn't allow readers to see the healing process between two of the book's major characters. Daisy is never described beyond her black hair, adding further ambiguity to the text. Subtle and thought-provoking, the novel is entertaining and heartfelt as well as a gentle introduction to the world of mental illness. (Fiction. 9-12)

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August 1, 2016

Gr 4-6-Daisy Fitzjohn has never seen the world beyond the walls of Brightwood Hall in her entire 11-year-old life. Alone with her wealthy mother in their decaying mansion, she keeps company with imaginary friends and a pet rat, completely unaware of the uniqueness of her situation. Her circumstances quickly change on the day her mother leaves for the store and never returns. Daisy is then visited by a strange man claiming to be a relative, who may have something to do with her mother's disappearance and may want Brightwood Hall for himself. The novel opens with the gripping tale of the death of Daisy's mother's family, which explains her mother's fear of letting Daisy leave the mansion's compound. There are creative introductions to Daisy's imaginary friends, who include a bossy little boy from a painting, a topiary horse, and a fierce explorer. After such a strong start, however, the plot is slow to evolve. Patient readers will still appreciate the sinister setting and resilient female protagonist; this could be a nice read-alike for fans of Jonathan Auxier's The Night Gardener or Neil Gaiman's Coraline. VERDICT A solid purchase for middle grade students who enjoy creepy stories with elements of magical realism.-Pilar Okeson, Washington, DC Public Library

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2016
Grades 4-7 Daisy Fitzhugh was born in Brightwood Hall and has lived in the confines of the house and grounds her entire brief life. The huge, rambling ancestral home is packed with food, supplies, and shelf after shelf of shoe box-sized containers that hold items to preserve the memory of each day. One morning, Daisy wakes up to find that her mother is gone; by nightfall, she hasn't come back. Then her mother's cousin James Gritting arrives, and he has a plan for Brightwood Hall that does not include Daisy or her mother. With only her talking rat, Tar, and the ghost of a girl explorer (who calls herself Frank) to help, Daisy desperately tries to drive him away. The tension builds as Gritting demonstrates that he will go to any length to get Brightwood Hall, and Daisy slowly realizes that what seemed like an enchanted, safe world is really a kind of prison. Beautiful, evocative writing brings Daisy's world to life, and readers will empathize with Daisy and admire her courage and resourcefulness.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2017
Eleven-year-old Daisy Fitzjohn and her mum Caroline live in beautiful but overgrown Brightwood Hall. Overprotective Caroline lost her family in a yachting accident when she was a child, and since then has hoarded keepsakes, filling Brightwood with catalogued boxes of clutter. She vowed never to lose anything "ever again," and to that end, she has kept Daisy a secret from the outside world. Daisy has never been beyond the estate's boundaries, though she finds company in her pet rat Tar (who talks, but only to her) and a topiary horse. When Caroline fails to return home one day, Daisy is left alone at the labyrinthine estate--until a stranger appears. Daisy sees something greedy and deceitful in him and uses her unparalleled knowledge of Brightwood to defend against his interference. Daisy's bravery is tested as she scrambles to save her home, her mother, and herself; she is aided by the ghost of a young adventurer and uses Caroline's collection of hoarded memories for clues. Although the novel features few characters and even fewer locations, it is nonetheless filled with action and intrigue. Brightwood itself is described in marvelous detail, with hiding places and secret passages setting up the reader for adventure. What starts as a spirited mystery with fantasy overtones turns into a frantic and violent conflict in which the heroine finds herself in dire peril. The battle for the estate is shaded by Daisy's dawning understanding of her mother's phobias and obsessions, as well as her discovery that not all the Fitzjohns were as brave as she'd believed. This suspenseful story will keep intrepid readers transfixed until the well-earned happy ending. sarah berman

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)