SOLVED. YA Fantasy. Main character inherited a garden with magical creatures from her grandfather, set in America. Napolean was a talking squash. Quirky and unique. Questionnaire at end of book. Read around 2017-2019. [s]

[Hopey]

Hi, around 2017-2019 I read a book where Napolean was a squash it was YA and at the end it had a questionare about what happened in the book it was very quirky and unique it had many pages an author or book name would be helpful thank you!

[SBC]

Hi Hopey, what do you mean by "Napolean was a squash"? Do you mean the historical figure Napoleon Bonaparte and do you mean a type of vegetable? Maybe a character in the story you read had a vegetable which they called Napoleon? I am intrigued! Please give us more details so we can help you find your book.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Please add genre to your topic header.

[Hopey]

Hi! So apparently Napolean Bonaparte was a squash but not the main character. The main character inherited a garden from her grandfather and apparently it has magical creatures such Napolean Bonaparte but as a squash.

[SBC]

Was it set in a different fantasy world or in the real world? If the real world, do you remember where it was set (e.g. somewhere in America)?

I don't know about the squash, but here are a few long shots:

Fablehaven - siblings Seth and Kendra discover their grandparents are the caretakers of a sanctuary for magical creatures

Impossible Creatures - When Christopher goes to stay with the grandfather he has never met before, he discovers that there is a portal to another world in the back garden

Terracolina - A forest is being devoured, a magical garden smothered. Thomas Smithers is grappling with the death of his grandpa.

As an aside, a Napoli squash is a type of squash so maybe the character was created as some kind of pun on that!

[Kris]

Hopey, I copied book details to the topic header. Feel free to edit it.

Story's time period and location/ country?

[Wil]

Sounds kind of like Fablehaven by Brandon Mull (though I don't remember anything about Napoleon being a squash :)

[Hopey]

Wow thanks for all the recommendations! Sadly none of them are correct :(.

[Hopey]

The story took place in modern day and pretty much in America. Basically this person inherits their grandfathers magical garden and finds all sorts of things including Napolean Bonaparte as a literal talking squash.

[Rainbowheart]

Does anything on the Novels About Gardens list look familiar?

[Joseph]

Maybe A Peculiar Peril, by Jeff VanderMeer?

[Hopey]

OMG THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!! A peculiar peril is the book I’ve been looking for!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Joseph]

Awesome! Enjoy!

[SBC]

Great find, Joseph! I'm glad you found your book, Hopey :)