The Rundown
A young girl, Miranda Moon, is suspended from school thanks to once again being too caught up in her imagination and storytelling. Her parents take her younger brother, Marcus, out of school and the family heads to their late grandparents’ cottage.
While there, Miranda finds a snow globe and when she upends it, the two young Moon’s are transported to a parallel world, Wunderwood, a land that itself exudes magic, imparting amazing abilities to its residents. Even Miranda’s wild imagination couldn’t have come up with the strange new experiences the two face in this place where everyone knows their name, and their grandparents are legend.
Miranda’s and Marcus’ arrival has some unintended consequences, releasing the evil warlock Thornton Crow from his forty-year imprisonment. Crow is again determined to find The Tree of Mindala, the source of all the realm’s magic, and capture and control that magic himself. When Miranda discovers her role in Crow’s release, she takes it upon herself to stop him. With Marcus and a new friend–or possibly frenemy–Leaf, for travel companions, Miranda seeks the tree and her own prophecy to determine how she is supposed to save Wunderwood.
With an imaginative parallel world filled with strange and wondrous creatures, a fight between good and evil, and newly discovered magical abilities, The Tree of Mindala will obviously invite comparisons to the Harry Potter series. Jacklee has done a good job of invoking Wunderwood’s magic in a unique way that won’t be considered derivative. The writing is clear and age appropriate for middle grade readers, with enough intrigue to satisfy older readers, too. Jacklee mostly handles the multiple points of view well, with only a few instances of “head-hopping” within a scene, but none so egregious that it takes the reader from the story. The biggest flaw isn’t in the writing, world-building or storytelling, but in developing real, three-dimensional characters. All are interesting enough, but it’s hard to feel we know them, even at the end of the story, only what we’ve been told about them. The plot and curious world, however, are strong enough to bring readers back for future installments, where we’ll hopefully get to know them better.
The Recommendation
Readers who’ve been looking for a new, magical world to fill the void that’s existed since 2009–will enjoy The Tree of Mindala. While not quite as nuanced and complex as Rowlings’ boy wizard series, the fantastical creatures, magical world, and good vs evil face-off in Jacklee’s first book of this series holds a lot of promise. Although the characters feel a bit two-dimensional here, future books may delve more into their development, showing, rather than telling, their personalities, flaws, and motivations helping to ensure readers commit to seeing their journey through to the outcome of the Wunderwood series.
The Rating
4.5 Stars (out of 5): Highly recommended. This book is a great read. It can hold its own against any traditionally published novel in its genre, and surpasses many.
The Pros & Cons
Pros: Plot, Strong World-BuildingCons: Character Developement
