Willa of the Wood by Robert Beatty

Summary from Goodreads:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Robert Beatty comes a spooky, thrilling new series set in the magical world of Serafina.

Move without a sound. Steal without a trace.

Willa, a young nightspirit of the Great Smoky Mountains, is her clan's best thief. She creeps into the homes of day-folk in the cover of darkness and takes what they won't miss. It's dangerous work — the day-folk kill whatever they do not understand. But when Willa's curiosity leaves her hurt and stranded in a day-folk man's home, everything she thought she knew about her people — and their greatest enemy — is forever changed.

Review:

I loved this. Robert Beatty is truly proving himself to be an amazing middle grade author. I loved Serafina. And I had high hopes for Willa. I was not disappointed. I immediately got lost in this beautiful forest of the Great Smoky Mountains, again. I could not put this book down. There’s something magical about this author’s writing style. He just pulls you in and refuses to let you go.

Willa wasn’t as instantly loveable as Serafina. I came to love her over time. But, her heart is just as big and her bravery just as strong. Beatty knows how to write girls who belong in Gryffindor. That being said, my heart was always pounding. There’s always some kind of danger coming and it was never easy to stop reading.

The setting was everything. I loved that the forest became its own character. The trees were alive. The animals and creatures had their own system of respect and love. I was fascinated by the wolves who helped her and the bears with their secret healing water. There may have even been a cameo or two of a certain wildcat. And I loved that too.

I also could not help myself from making current day connections. I was reading about Willa discovering human children in cages around the same time I was getting news of immigrant children being separated from their parents and placed in cages of their own. It’s eerie how related this book is to current events.

Willa was brought up not to question her leader or her “pack.” She was brought up to fear humans because they killed whatever they did not understand, including her parents and twin sister. Yet, something bothered her about this treatment of children. Despite a lifetime of teachings, she knew this was wrong.

There’s always a little darkness to Beatty’s books. The first Serafina book involved the kidnapping and possible murders of children. This one has its own darkness. One that revolves around hurting and starving innocent children. Of course, Willa has to go against her people, her leader, and everything she was taught to believe to do what’s right. This book is loaded with kid power.

It’s also about Willa connecting with a family that is not hers by blood. She goes back to the humans she steals from in the beginning. She saw compassion in the eyes of her attacker, and grew to love an unlikely family. And that’s a powerful message too. Willa learns to see good in everyone. Not all humans are the same. Everyone has at least a little good in them.

This book is about compassion, love, family, and acceptance. It’s about doing the right thing, even though that can be incredibly difficult. It’s about grief and forgiveness too. Really, the more I talk about this book now, the more I love it. If everyone who read this can soak up even a fraction of its goodness, the world would be a better place. I give this a 10/10.