The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

from goodreads

4 stars

Lately I have been in a children's book reading mood. They just seem to be the books I have been gravitating to. Does that happen to you?

Sometimes it is a Nordic crime fascination and then next it is classics. Well for me it is now children's books, and man they are good.

Synopsis

Molly and Kip are orphaned siblings who have secured employment at the Windsor house in the Sourwoods. While there, they encounter a dark force that helps them realize the danger of greed, but at what cost?

My Thoughts

This was a great book. I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew that it would be creepy just from looking at the cover, but I wasn't sure if it was going to be scary creepy, or silly creepy, or just plain old creepy. It was creepy but with a great story.

While the back of the book talks of how it deals with the moral of not being greedy, it also is a tale about the definition of honesty. The greed is dealt with through the tree. The tree can grant your hearts most sincere desire but at the cost of your soul. I like how the author shows that the thing you could be greedy of does not necessarily have to be monetary gain. It can be having familial connections or regaining affection that was lost, or simply having a good story or fantasy world to escape to. It shows that we need to do things in moderation and that if we want something we need to work for it, otherwise the price might be too high.

Honesty, though not mentioned by other reviewers, is also a moral that is discussed. The character Molly is a natural storyteller, yet she uses stories to shield her brother Kip, and the Windsor's daughter Penny, from the truth. The book looks at when is a story actually a lie. It makes you look at your intentions, even for the white lie. Sometimes people need to learn hard truths and if we constantly shield them from that truth and brush it off, are we really shielding them for their benefit or ours? It was a really neat discussion point.

I loved the characters in the book. Each character was pivotal, even if they were merely a secondary character. Everyone played an essential role in the plot. It was nice not to have random characters thrown in. They all seemed well thought out.

My favourite character was Kip. I loved how stalwart and brave he was. He seemed wise beyond his years. And I loved how true he was to himself. While the tree might have been able to grant his wish, he knew he would be dependent on it forever and that he was happy with himself as he was, even if he was lame. That takes a maturity that most adults don't even have and it was just beautiful watching it unfold.

I also loved the character Hester. Even though she played a small role, I loved it. She is the kind of spunky old person I want to be when I reach that certain age. I was a little shocked about what happened to her, but I don't want to give it away, so that is all I'll say about that.

This is a great book to introduce kids to the supernatural/suspence genre. (I guess some might classify it as horror, and maybe it is, but I don't think I would classify it as such.) There is just enough scariness to put you on edge but not so much that you will have trouble sleeping.

This would be a great book for ages 10 and up.