The Grace of Wild Things

 

Title: The Grace of Wild Things

Author: Heather Fawcett

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Format: Ebook

Publication Date: February 14, 2023

Grade Level: 5th-8th 

Category: Fantasy 

The Grace of Wild Things is a cozy middle grade fantasy with themes of found family, overcoming loss, and finding joy and magic in unexpected places. The story is a witchy re-imagining of the classic Anne of Green Gables, and like Anne, the protagonist Grace is headstrong, imaginative, and melodramatic. In trying to escape her orphanage and learn to master her witchcraft, Grace strikes a deal with an old, miserly witch without a name. If Grace can manage to do every spell in the witch's book, the witch will take her on as an apprentice. The novel is worth a review both for its complexity and the fact that it is highly acclaimed, being a Texas Lone Star Reading List nominee, a Vermont Golden Dome Book Award nominee, winner of the 2023 Cybil Award for MG speculative fiction, and one of Bank Street’s Best Children’s Books of the Year. 

I read the book on my iPhone through Libby. Were I reading a physical copy, I would read the book a whole chapter at a time, but the eBook format meant I read in more bite-sized pieces. For example, I would pull out my phone to read the book for a couple minutes in line at the grocery store, waiting for the bus, etc. This was very convenient, but also interrupted the flow of the story.  

Character. The Grace of Wild Things boasts a cast of dimensional, dynamic characters. Even many minor characters, such as Poppy the school bully and Priscilla the popular girl, experience rich character arcs and growth. The witch acts as both obstacle and friend/maternal figure in the context of the story. She is surly and irritable, and Grace is constantly trying to endear herself to her and convince the witch to let her live in her cottage permanently. Over the course of the story, it becomes clear that the witch comes to care for Grace, even if she may never admit it, and Grace comes to see her as a mother/grandmother. It's a development that makes the ending all the more devastating, as the witch eventually dies from an illness she had been fighting throughout the novel. After the witch's death, Grace must learn to deal with the loss and relies on support from the friends she's made over the course of the story.

Setting. The setting of The Grace of Wild Things takes much inspiration from Anne of Green Gables, thus, its takes place on Prince Edward Island sometime around the turn of the twentieth century. Fawcett's prose is richly descriptive, particularly where it pertains to the setting. Readers are transported to a place of wild natural beauty hidden magic, and are made to feel warm and sentimental through descriptions of quaint towns and cottages. 

Plot. Most of the book comprises Grace's misadventures around the island, going to school, making friends, and coming up with clever ways to complete each spell in the witch's book. Most chapters feels very episodic and predictable in that they usually end with Grace completing a spell or finding an important ingredient for a spell. Additionally, it feels as if the novel is more concerned with exploring character relationships than advancing a plot, but the plot beats are more emotionally impactful for the time spent on character. For example, a lot of time is spent on little moments and side stories between Grace and the witch, which makes the witch's death at the end feel more heartbreaking. 

References: 

Fawcett, H. (2024). The Grace of Wild Things. Balzer + Bray.