The Dark Hills Divide

Starred review from February 14, 2005
There's a new heroine in the adventure-fantasy realm, and she's got plenty of smarts and girl-power drive, skillfully conveyed by Vigesaa's confident and well-paced reading. Twelve-year-old Alexa Daley spearheads this first book in a trilogy filled with such exciting, if perhaps familiar, elements as a dangerous quest, sinister enemies, talking animals, magical powers and far-away kingdoms. Though Alexa has lived inside a walled town her entire life, she longs to know what's outside. Her brave and ill-advised journey beyond the wall sets in motion a suspenseful tale about what lurks in the wild forests of the Dark Hills. Vigesaa nimbly distinguishes different character voices without too much vocal fanfare and without missing a beat. Listeners will want to stick with her on this thrilling ride. Ages 9-up.

Starred review from February 21, 2005
In his debut fantasy, the launch of the Land of Elyon series, Carman crafts an intriguingly insular world, and introduces a plucky, convincingly curious heroine who yearns to see what lies outside of it. Alexa Daley, 12 years old, lives within the walled kingdom of Elyon with her father, the mayor of Lathbury, and his influential friends. As the story opens, readers learn through a flashback that Alexa was taking a walk with Warvold, the kingdom's architect, when he inexplicably died; she takes a key from the locket he wears, and returns home. While the adults grapple with the population problem within this confined space, Alexa follows her passion—to find "a way outside the wall"—and escapes, thanks to Warvold's key. Once outside, a two-foot-high man greets her and leads her on a quest through a seemingly enchanted land with talking animals. From them she learns that Warvold had selected her as "the chosen one," to complete a task he left unfinshed. The author slowly reveals how Warvold's internallized fears prompted him to build the wall, with all sorts of unforeseen ramifications. ("The monster is the wall itself," one animal tells her.) Carman dabbles in social commentary with his intimations of the perils of isolationism, but even more effectively plumbs the psychological reverberations of playing out one's fears. Readers of all ages will gain much from this tale and eagerly anticipate the next two planned volumes. Ages 8-13.