JULES, PENNY & THE ROOSTER

A child, a rooster, and a dog who may or may not be a legendary wolf have unusual adventures in an enchanted suburban forest.

Middle schooler Jules wins a collie in a newspaper contest. Hardly have the two bonded than they meet several creatures in the nearby woodland: a handsome rooster, a friendly if “pretty spectacularly ugly” witch, some dazzling tiny fairies, and a few other reclusive residents. Jules learns that the woods are about to lose the spell that has kept them protected from the outside world. It seems that a collector of magical artifacts has stolen a vital talisman called the Wise Old Turtle for his private museum. Sure, there’s a prophecy that a sacred rooster, a magic wolf named Hakawakamaka, and who knows, maybe a girl, will help save the forest—but how? Where there’s a will, there’s a way, or so the saying goes, and this snappy “girl and her dog” story zigzags toward a satisfactory resolution. What will stand out for readers is the intimate connection between the doughty narrator and her equally resourceful canine companion. “The big thing,” Jules writes, “is how we loved each other, totally and completely, also right away and from the beginning.” Characters’ races and ethnicities aren’t mentioned.

Fetching and folkloric.