131. The Hedgehog of Oz

The Hedgehog of Oz. Cory Leonardo. 2021. [February] 400 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Tucked between a brick apartment building and a busy corner deli, on a storybook tree-lined street, sits a theater. A run-down but beautiful theater.

Premise/plot: Marcel (our Oz-loving hedgehog) lives at The Emerald City Theater with Auntie Hen and Uncle Henrietta (two chickens). He misses *his* Dorothy--the little girl who gave him a happy, happy home. But that was BEFORE and sometimes it's too painful to think about before. But before readers get properly settled into a routine with Marcel and company, the theater is closed and the animals are rounded up and dumped. Marcel finds himself separated from his chicken friends...and in the woods. Here he'll have to start completely over making new friends...friends that may eventually feel like family...but it's exhausting work being LOST and LONELY and SAD. Where does he go from here? Does he try to get back to the theater in the city? Does he try to find *his* Dorothy (that's not her real name)? Does he make peace with his new circumstances?

My thoughts: I wanted to love, love, love this one. I did. I absolutely love the cover. If I was giving out stars based on the cover alone, I'd give it a five easily. I do typically love animal fantasy. So my hopes were very high.

I didn't quite love, love, love this one. I loved elements of this one. I particularly loved the wisdom of Oona the moth. She has without a doubt some of the best lines of the whole book.

"Oona?" he tried. "Have you come to help me now--help me get back to the theater?"
The moth gave him a sad sort of smile. Her voice was quiet. "No, Marcel. Not in the way you'd like, I'm afraid. What you're asking isn't that easy."
"Oh." At her words, something inside Marcel deflated.
He'd been thinking about something for a little while now. Since he'd lived in the theater, he'd seen an awful lot of movies, and a movie journey was usually pretty easy at first. But somewhere around the middle and all the way to the end, things always got hard if you were one of the characters.
"The rest of the way," he asked Oona. "Do you think it will be dangerous?"
"I don't know, Marcel." Oona's eyes were soft. She thought for a moment. "But maybe we're not meant to. To know, that is. If we knew every turn of the journey before we set out..." she smiled. "Well, I wonder if we'd ever want to take that first step. Or that first flight, if you were me."

and later

"I think you have lost something, Marcel, my hedgehog friend."
He had. He'd lost Dorothy. Lost her forever.
"But I wonder if one of the things you've lost isn't the most important thing you need to find--something you need more than all the rest. Not someone, not somewhere. It's not what you think."
"It's not? But what else is there?" he asked, as Oona stretched out her wings.
"I think you'll find it," she said simply. "Sometimes you can't know what you've lost until it's sitting right there in front of you."

and much, much later

"Marcel, don't you know?"
He shook his head. What else was there to know?
Oona gave him a small smile. "We're all a little lost before we're found."
Marcel stopped crying. He sniffled. "We are?" he asked shakily.
"Oh yes. I think so. But I'm sorry you're lost. I'll help you if I can."
Marcel shook his head. "You can't. But thank you. Just being here is enough."
The moth's face changed then, and she looked at him intently. "Marcel, do you believe?"
"Believe what?" he asked.
"Marcel," she repeated. "Do you believe?"
Marcel knew what she was asking. Did he believe he could be found.

Marcel meets a handful of other animals (a mouse, a raccoon, a squirrel) who join him on his journey-quest. And the quest is DANGEROUS. There's even an "evil witch"....not really...but they embrace the concept of the OWLS being evil witches.

One of my favorite quotes from the book: Loss always breaks you. But love--even love that spans miles and time--finds a way to mend the broken places.

So what didn't work for me? I had a hard time suspending my disbelief 100%. It stretches your belief to extremes to get to that super-super happy ending. I don't know if this would have bothered me if I was a kid.

BUT that's a whole other issue. I've mentioned before--and even just recently--that I was a super super sensitive reader as a kid. And if a book even looked remotely that it had a death in it, I would have avoided it completely. This book LOOKS like it would be safe. But it ISN'T. It really isn't. NOT all the animals you meet survive the journey. In other words, you get attached to characters that may DIE all so that Marcel can get a chance at a happy ending.

And then there's the whole issue of OWLS.

© 2021 Becky Laney of Young Readers