FREE: Horns And Wrinkles by Joseph Helgerson

The listing, Horns And Wrinkles by Joseph Helgerson has ended.

The universe created in this book - a pocket of magic trapped along the northern part of the Mississippi - is so very real and imaginable. The author has done such a fantastic job of portraying the fantastic that even his footnote on how to find the fictional town is cute and believable.

The story itself centers around a few main characters. The main three: Claire, her cousin Duke, and a strange, nameless old lady are introduced within the first few pages. Claire is the hero of this tome. She's pure and cute and feisty. Duke is her bully of a cousin, and his bullying ways lead him down a strange path.

Claire's family are not thoroughly described, and yet, you feel as if you know them anyhow, so good is the craft in these words. You can see her moody older sisters, her uncle the dog-trainer, her grandfather the storyteller.

The story did at times have a bit too much reliance on the magical, though, and I found myself a bit lost trying to follow just what the author was trying to express.

But in the end, it was a very good story with a very good hero and a very good lesson. A good easy read for any fantasy reader; a good find for a young adult.