Kate Milford is one of my all-time favorite authors, and while I love the intricate plots, fleshed-out characters, and how her books read like something out of an Agatha Christie novel, what I love most about her books is the way in which all the books are connected. Many authors set their books in a “shared world,” as Kate Milford refers to it on her website, but Milford’s world is richer and more realistic than most. Her books take place in either the crossroads town of Arcane, Missouri; the Sovereign City Of Nagspeake, near Magothy Bay and the Skidwrack River; or New York City. A few of the books take place in each of these settings, and those books are directly connected by place, but what makes Milford’s novels so unique is that the settings are tied together by characters who move between the places, linking all the books together into her very own universe. As you read more and more of Milford’s books, you stumble upon characters with mysteries you can only uncover by reading other books, or maybe you already know something about a character or place that the protagonist doesn’t know yet because you read about it in a past book. We are introduced to Nagspeake’s smuggling history in Greenglass House, but it is only in The Thief Knot and Bluecrowne that we get a close look at its old iron that as far as anyone can tell, seems to move of its own accord. We find Simon Coffrett in Bluecrowne, but we only figure out what it means for him to be a Jumper in The Boneshaker. We meet Meddy in Greenglass House, but we only realize her amazing capabilities in The Thief Knot, and so on. Every new book you read makes the shared world and the characters that inhabit it feel more and more realistic until readers almost convince themselves it’s real. On several websites, readers have asked if Nagspeake is real, and where it is, and if it’s a good place to take a vacation to, and this striking realism that makes it seem convincing enough to be true stems from the way the shared world digs deeper into Nagspeake (and Arcane) with every book. There are maps of these places, and a tourism website, and countless other things that most people have almost never done with a fictional place. It really goes to show how much the shared world impacts the credibility of the novels, considering that these places are obviously fantasy. There are ghosts, there are magical entities, there are machines in places set hundreds of years in the past so advanced that we don’t have the technology to build them today- and yet people still believe in the possibility of these places being real. The shared world that all of Kate Milford’s books are set in makes the plots more compelling, the characters more relatable, the settings more lifelike, and the books more electrifying.
The Blue Wings, Reviewed by Sita, 11
The Blue Wings, a realistic-fiction novel by Jef Aerts, centers around a boy named Josh and his older brother Jadran. Jadran has a cognitive condition that presents itself in the form of obsessive thoughts and outbursts, which are sometimes violent, so his mom relies on Josh to take care of him. At Jadran’s school, The Space, his teachers tell him that he can do anything he sets his mind to, so when he and Josh find an injured crane that had been left behind by its family, Jadran is determined to teach it to fly and get back home to its family at any cost. As you follow the story, you get to see Josh’s and Jadran’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as the close bond between them. Josh and Jadran share a very interesting relationship, because although Josh is Jadran’s little brother, younger than Jadran by five years, he still treats Jadran like his little brother, and Jadran treats Josh like an older brother. Josh keeps Jadran out of trouble, he humors Jadran and his sometimes irrational ideas, and in general, makes sure Jadran has the perfect balance between fun and safety in his life. Josh’s mom puts it perfectly when she says “ ‘You’re his guardian angel’, ” to Josh. Josh will go extremely far to ensure Jadran’s happiness. Although he doesn’t want to, he finds bugs to feed the crane, he makes sure the crane’s injured wing is healing properly, and he helps Jadran take care of the crane. When Jadran wants to teach the crane how to fly, Josh helps him, even once it becomes risky. And when Jadran and Josh face a daunting challenge, Josh agrees to help Jadran carry out his spur-of-the-moment, vague plan, although it suddenly seems impossible to accomplish. Josh loves his brother, but he also often feels exasperated and even nervous around Jadran. At one point, Josh thinks to himself, “ ‘Jadran can’t explode. Not here, not three stories above the ground.’ ” He is scared that Jadran will get angry and he’ll throw a fit, which would be very dangerous that high up. I loved this book and couldn’t put it down. The plot is unique and intriguing, complete with compelling characters that are vividly brought to life for a one-of-a-kind moving read. Through Josh’s eyes, Jef Aerts immerses you in a tale of brotherhood, friendship, and family you will never forget. Fans of Wonder and A Mango-Shaped Space will relish The Blue Wings. The Blue Wings by Jef Aerts. Levine Querido, 2020. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!