MacNeal, Tom. Far Far Away. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013.

I can't believe I haven't read this book more quickly. I am super glad that I did a random ghost search of my ebook collection for the Halloween book talk. This National Book Award nominee is phenomenal. I simply can't wait to share Jeremy Johnson Johnson and his guardian ghost Jacob Grimm, of course, with my kids!

MacNeal creates a fairytale like setting worthy of his ghostly Grimm - where magical green smoke from the bakery means delicious magical cakes the next day. But it is, in fact, a somewhat difficult world for Jeremy. After his mom left them, his dad stops leaving their house. Their house, and their book shop, they are in danger of losing to back taxes. And then, Ginger. He isn’t sure why he has earned her attention, but he kind of likes it, even as she stretches him far, far outside his comfort zone. Together, they work for the baker, who has unexpectedly forgiven them for a nasty trick. Kids are being abducted from their town, he says. Their little prank is not such a big deal, he says. The events that unfold are stunning. The fairytale, turned on its ear.

I appreciated every bit of this book. The setting is simultaneously fairy tale and painfully real - complete with small minded bullies and evil. The characters are fully developed. Jeremy, Jacob, and Ginger, but with them the minor characters, among them, Jeremy’s father and the woman in town who shakes him from his stupor, and Ginger’s friends, and the mayor and his son. The plot is clever. I often pride myself in “figuring things out” as I read, but the twists and turns here kept me guessing...and reading voraciously. The language of this book is beautiful.. I have book talked it to middle schoolers as a scary story, but will surely be sharing it with my older kids as an example of excellent writing and craftsmanship.