From: Steven Engelfried <sengelfried>
Date: Sat, 5 Oct 2002 12:21:28 -0700

Polly Horvath and Franny Billingsley are two fiction authors I'm glad to have discovered in recent years. Horvath's "Everything on a Waffle" and "Trolls" are very different books, but both have freshness and surprise in them. Her characters are new and unique, and the plots never go quite where I expect them to.

"Well Wished," Billingsley's first book, is a neat twist on wishing well tales, more complex than many kids' fantasies, but still easy and fun to follow. But "The Folk Keeper" was even better. Memorable lead character, very well developed settings, and those "Folk" are truly creepy, making the girl's courage in facing them (along her human antagonists) that much more powerful. After those first two books I have no idea what to expect from Billingsley's next, but I look forward to finding out...

Steven Engelfried, Children's Division Librarian Beaverton City Library 12375 SW 5th Street Beaverton, OR 97005 503R6%99 sengelfried at ci.beaverton.or.us
Received on Sat 05 Oct 2002 02:21:28 PM CDT