ELF DOG AND OWL HEAD

Some 10-plus years after concluding his Norumbegan Quartet, Anderson again explores the weird and wonderful magic of rural New England in this stand-alone work for middle graders.

In fact, it is on Mount Norumbega that Clay O’Brian meets Elphinore, a young elf-hound whose curiosity separates her from the Hunt. Elphinore becomes a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy time for Clay and his family, as a “worldwide sickness” has shut down school and looms dismally over the summer. But during forest rambles, Elphinore takes Clay and, ultimately, his sisters along “the paths that led through crooked, elfin ways.” This is how Clay befriends Amos, a boy with an owl’s head whose people speak in Hawthorne-esque dialogue, and how older sister DiRossi meets Vud, an ancient giant whose determination to be miserable matches her own 14-year-old angst. Writing with his characteristic precision, Anderson melds the fantastic with the everyday to often riotous effect while also gently schooling Clay and readers in cross-cultural communication. It all comes to a thrilling climax on Midsummer’s Eve before a bittersweet, perfectly pitched denouement. Wu’s lovely, textured pencil drawings add eldritch warmth. The full-page illustrations, including some double-page spreads, are interspersed throughout the book, contributing to the sense of wonder. Characters read White.

A hilarious, heartfelt triumph.