Root Bound (Emma and the Elementals #1) byTanya Karen Gough
Publication Date: June 3rd 2012
Genre: Children's Fantasy/Adventure
Pages: 251
~Summary~
"A lighthearted, whimsical confection that will delight both kids and their parents’ inner child." - Kirkus Reviews
How far will you go to find your way home?
Emma and her father are always on the move, travelling from place to place as her father’s work demands. Their new home, however, is different. There’s a frightening woman who lives down the hall: she bears an uncanny resemblance to a witch. A mysterious light comes from her apartment, and a small boy seems to be trapped inside.
School in this town is no happy place either, with an odd principal and a gang of girls who make tormenting Emma their special project. And strangest of all is the fact that there seem to be brownies - basement brownies, in the air vent in her bedroom.
Haunted by visions of her mother, Emma travels through the brownie burrow to the valley of Hades to visit with the goddess Ceres, following a series of clues that lead her across the sea of memory to the centre of the world.
There, on an inhospitable rock floating in a sea of steaming lava, Emma must find a way to release her mother from the sea of memory and restore magic to both the brownie burrow and the human world above.
How far will you go to find your way home?
Emma and her father are always on the move, travelling from place to place as her father’s work demands. Their new home, however, is different. There’s a frightening woman who lives down the hall: she bears an uncanny resemblance to a witch. A mysterious light comes from her apartment, and a small boy seems to be trapped inside.
School in this town is no happy place either, with an odd principal and a gang of girls who make tormenting Emma their special project. And strangest of all is the fact that there seem to be brownies - basement brownies, in the air vent in her bedroom.
Haunted by visions of her mother, Emma travels through the brownie burrow to the valley of Hades to visit with the goddess Ceres, following a series of clues that lead her across the sea of memory to the centre of the world.
There, on an inhospitable rock floating in a sea of steaming lava, Emma must find a way to release her mother from the sea of memory and restore magic to both the brownie burrow and the human world above.
~Review~
Will disturb your being in the best of ways
When it comes to paranormal, otherworldly, supernatural, or
just some kind a fantasy then I am in. And you all know I adore these genres
the most, so of course after reading the summary for this book I was intrigued.
Jumping the gun, I signed up and was excited to getting started! ^_^
I loved that this was about Brownies, basement Brownies, so I
thought this would be fun and it was. In young adult we don’t usually get these
kinds of creatures, it’s more known for children. Which is fine, I can read kid’s
books if I want a little bit of their magic in my life and this book I believe is
also great for all ages, but sometimes I forgot that this was a child as a main
character. I forget that sometimes kids have to take care of themselves and their parents. I also forgot how
mean kids can be, no matter what age they are. So sometimes I had to remind
myself that she was a child and once I went, “Wow, you’re brave to be walking to school, alone, through an unknown
town you just moved to.” Because, me, I don’t think that’s the best for
kids. But that’s just my opinion.
But shoving that to the side of my brain, I let the magic and
storytelling of Miss Gough take over me. From the beginning we got to see
subtle hints of magic and it helped sucked me in. The house was alive, a witch
looking person lived down the hall and she’s someone that wouldn’t leave Emma
alone, the way the house sneezes, and the mystical light from that witches room
are all signs that this is no usual place to live in and one place where Emma
will get quite a surprise.
She sneezed. She sneezed again. Then the house sneezed.
She froze, another monstrous sneeze trapped in her nose. Everything
around her seemed to freeze, too. Finally, she couldn’t hold it any longer, and
she let out the most enormous sneeze she had ever sneezed, and at that same
exact moment, the house sneezed too. And before she was able to even wonder
what was happening, she heard a sudden clatter, like a bag of marbles rolling
down the vent shaft.
When the brownies came into the picture I couldn’t help but
become giddy with excitement. I felt like a little kid and I loved it! :D These
four characters sure knew how to make me laugh. Honestly, I can’t pick which
brownie I liked more. You have little Mat that thinks he knows all including
all about humans though he has never met one, Truss whom is very motherly to
Emma and the one that keeps the group under control, Pier who acts like a
teenage boy whom can’t get over the fact that he missed breakfast cause Under
zapped him up into Over to help Emma, and then Master Tect whom is constantly
sleeping and in places that don’t always seem so comfortable to me, haha.
Now even though I did enjoy this there was something that
started to bug me. This thing that bugged me formed slowly and in the end it’s one
of the reasons why rated this book a four. Once again we have another book plot
surrounded around Greek mythology. Now, don’t get me wrong I freaking adore Greek Mythology but it isn’t the only mythology
that is out there, so can we please freshen up the mythology in our books. How
about some Egyptian?
Overall,
this was a great story especially for kids (so, it’s a great bedtime story for
my readers whom are parents) and a good starter to a series. One that I can’t
wait to continue!
Tanya Karen Gough was born in Montreal, Quebec and raised in
New England, where she developed a healthy appetite for ghosts and things that
go bump in the night. An avid reader from a young age, she quickly worked her
way through Alice in Wonderland, the Magical Monarch of Mo, Andrew Lang's Fairy
Books, all of the Tintin comic books, Nancy Drew, and most of the other books
in the children's library.
Finally, at the tender age of 10, she produced this poetic masterpiece:
"Whene'er you get a wandering leg
And feel that you must roam
Remember this and don't forget
The best place is at home"
To date, she has moved more than 25 times. Along the way, she earned two degrees in English Literature, taught overseas, became the owner operator of the Poor Yorick Shakespeare Catalogue, and contributed to a number of Shakespeare-related publications. Root Bound is the first of four books in the Emma and the Elementals series.
Finally, at the tender age of 10, she produced this poetic masterpiece:
"Whene'er you get a wandering leg
And feel that you must roam
Remember this and don't forget
The best place is at home"
To date, she has moved more than 25 times. Along the way, she earned two degrees in English Literature, taught overseas, became the owner operator of the Poor Yorick Shakespeare Catalogue, and contributed to a number of Shakespeare-related publications. Root Bound is the first of four books in the Emma and the Elementals series.
Author Links:
-Website: http://emmaseries.blogspot.ca/
-Twitter: https://twitter.com/emmaseries
-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmmaSeries
~Giveaway~
~Grand Prize Giveaway~
Happy Reading Everybody!
Cheers!
The review puts me in mind of my favorite book when I was younger--The Borrowers. As far as YA Paranormal, I'll have to read it to decide whether it's YA material. They are a fairly hard crowd to sell to.
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@Cindi- Yes, The Borrowers was on my mind most of the time when I was reading, haha. That's a good point, YA are hard to sell ideas too. Maybe one day!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by! ^_^