The two main themes of fear of loss and what to believe are engaging, and the plot is quite well thought out. The scenes about a pre-adolescent living through this period of war are particularly compelling, and the realism next to the fantasy is effective. The subplot about Claire’s burgeoning desire to be attractive to boys adds another layer of depth to the story. The layers of THE FAIRIES OF TURTLE CREEK are reminiscent of 2013 Newbury Honor Book Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
But, unlike Three Times Lucky, the dialogue tries too hard, particularly near the beginning, and ends up stilted, and the expository portions are belabored. A typical passage narrated by Claire:
“Science is the only way for seemingly mysterious incidents to be explained. If science can’t back something up, it doesn’t exist.” I tried to sound convincing, but what I had read about the fairy artifacts, and the educated professors that backed them up, popped into my head and made me surprisingly unsure of myself.
The Lexile score for Three Times Lucky, aimed at the same age group, is 560L; the Lexile score from a sample of the text produced a 1000L score, placing it on the outer edge of a younger reader, but still within the limits of an advanced eighth-grader. It might find a wider readership if streamlined. Much of the tale is narrated rather than recreated, which diminishes its immediacy.
Layered with plots and themes, THE FAIRIES OF TURTLE CREEK should be quite the soufflé, but the airy tale is nearly flattened at the outset, but the reader who persists may feel rewarded in the end.
Reviewed by Jodi McMaster for IndieReader.