The Edge can be a treacherous place to live. The land ends just as the name implies. It consists of seven different zones, and each is more perilous and unstable than the last. This particular tale takes place in The Deepwoods, the farthest zone from the Edge, where our protagonist Twig is raised. The flora is strange and the fauna is even stranger yet, and you never wander off the path. It is a dark and dangerous place to live where Bloodoak trees will swallow you whole, and cute little fluffy orange wig-wigs can consume every bone and hair off your body in minutes. There are Luftwood Trees that become weightless when set on fire, and Lullabee Trees that sing strange mournful songs in the stove.

Twig is an outcast in his woodtroll village. He doesn't look anything like the other woodtrolls: he is tall and gangly where they are short and squat, and his skin is smooth and pale next to theirs. When Twig turns 13, he is considered of age, and is sent away to live with a cousin so the sky pirates won't come to take him away on one of their floating ships, although secretly he thinks this would be the most fantastic place to be. But on his way, Twig is so marveled by the sights he sees, that he wanders from the path and becomes hopelessly lost. And so begins Twig's journey through the Deepwoods and his search for acceptance…

Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell are so creative in their design of the creatures and trees and the entire landscape they invent for this book, and I love their black-ink illustrations every few pages. They give the perfect mental image to go along with the descriptions of the characters and the settings. Beyond the Deepwoods is the first book in the Edge Chronicles. This is a great series for ages 10 and up.