The Oddmire Book 1: Changeling by William Ritter

Summary on Goodreads:

Magic is fading from the Wild Wood. To renew it, goblins must perform an ancient ritual involving the rarest of their kind—a newborn changeling. But when the fateful night arrives to trade a human baby for a goblin one, something goes terribly wrong. After laying the changeling in a human infant’s crib, the goblin Kull is briefly distracted from his task. By the time he turns back, the changeling has already perfectly mimicked the human child. Too perfectly: Kull cannot tell them apart. Not knowing which to bring back, he leaves both babies behind.

Tinn and Cole are raised as human twins, neither knowing what secrets may be buried deep inside one of them. Then when they are twelve years old, a mysterious message arrives, calling the brothers to be heroes and protectors of magic. The boys must leave behind their sleepy town of Endsborough and risk their lives in the Wild Wood, crossing the perilous Oddmire swamp and journeying through the Deep Dark to reach the goblin horde and discover who they truly are. 


Review:

I’m not going to lie; this isn’t the typical book I’d pick up any more. It’s essentially a quest story for 12 year old boys. However, I LOVE William Ritter. I know this author can write a good mystery. I also know he can write humor and the supernatural really well. So, I wanted to see how he did a classical fantasy sounding middle grade book. I was not disappointed. I had trouble putting this story down.

William Ritter definitely knows how to write about supernatural creatures and folklore. Everything from goblins, changelings, and witches, to magic, etc. I also just loved the characters. I loved the boys’ mother. I loved that it wasn’t just a story about the boys saving magic. It was also a family story. Their human mother went on an adventure of her own to bring them back. Often the grownups get left behind. Not here.

And then there’s a witch story too, about saving the forest. She’s not the typical evil witch. There’s also a friendship story about a friend they make along the way. Honestly, this book has a little bit of everything. There’s plenty of little surprises along the way as well.

It’s a sweet story about family, friendship, and believing in yourself. I can easily see this becoming a movie. It reminded me a bit of Serafina and the Black Cloak. The forest in this book is almost as much of a character as it is in that one. There’s a darkness to things, but the wonderful characters constantly fighting for one another bring out so much light. I really enjoyed this. I giver it an 8/10.