The Bookwanderers, by Anna James

[rachelmanija]

This book, the first in a 7-book middle-grade series, was recommended to me by a customer who wanted to buy A Little Princess for her daughters who had gotten interested in it after reading this book.

Tilly Pages lives in her grandparents' home above their bookshop, as her mother vanished without a trace shortly after she was born. She discovers that she and her grandparents (and her mother) are bookwanderers - able to step into the pages of books and interact with the characters. (She only ever explores out-of-copyright books due to real life copyright laws.) Book characters can also sometimes step out of their books and interact with bookwanderers in the real world - Tilly discovered her gift when she met Anne Shirley and Alice from Wonderland.

This is a whole lot of fun, and also has a truly amazing twist. I figured out that Tilly's vanished mother must be lost in a book. I also guessed that her father was a fictional character. I did NOT guess that her father was Ralph Crewe from A Little Princess LOLOLOLOL. Or that Tilly has special powers because she's HALF FICTIONAL.

I look forward to reading the next book, which looks like it will center around fairytales.