A Delightful Fantasy Story

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


OPHELIA AND THE MARVELOUS BOY Review
By Karen Foxlee


What would you do if you met a boy who asked you to help him “save the world?” Not likely to happen, you think. Maybe not, unless you’re eleven-year-old Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard who never dreamed she‘d soon be searching for a key and a sword to help a boy do just that. But there she is, risking her very life to help a three-hundred-and-three-year old boy, without a name.

Author Karen Foxlee has written a whimsical tale of magic, blessings, evil, and a mother’s love. In her middle grade novel, OPHELIA AND THE MARVELOUS BOY, the author tells the story of Ophelia, who encounters the boy quite accidentally. When he tells her he’s a prisoner of the Snow Queen and must escape to find his magical sword and the One Other, or he’ll die within three days, Ophelia sets out in search of the key to free him from his prison. Things do not run smoothly for Ophelia, as you might imagine. She faces one danger after another. She cannot turn to her father or sister, Alice, for help. And the time is growing short for her to succeed in her quest. Ophelia’s mother, however, who passed away a short time earlier, is always there for her daughter, whispering to her, encouraging, and advising her what to do.

Well-developed characters take the reader back to a magical age of fantasy and fairy tales where you find yourself lost in their world, searching with the characters for a happy ending. The setting of the museum brings to life the different displays, the animals that seem to move but are only statues. Or are they? If you’re like me, you’ll find yourself holding your breath when all seems lost and Ophelia will be unable to save the boy. Will she succeed, or will he fade away, his life ended? OPHELIA AND THE MARVELOUS BOY will make a nice addition to school libraries and classrooms. Why not pick up a copy or two for your own children’s library and enjoy a wild adventure into fantasyland?

An e-copy of this book was provided to me by Random House Children’s Books and Net Galley for my honest review.

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