Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 09/01/2022 Gr 5 Up—When children (or Youngers) venture Outside, they are often Windswept, or blown away by the wind, never to be seen again. This was the case of Hyacinth's sisters Iris, Lily, and Rose, when they broke the rules and went to the Outside. The youngest sister Hyacinth, also known as Tagalong or Tag, is a step behind her sisters when the sisters go to the forbidden Outside and are separated from her. Years later, Tag receives a note asking her to attend a meeting on the forbidden Outside. She leaves her home and is soon leading an adventure to find her siblings. The unlikely crew of Youngers—Finn, Boots, Ren, Ant, and Tag, with the dog BlueTooth—journey into the Unknown to find their windswept siblings, meeting many magical characters along the way. They take a forbidden fairy-tale book with them, and it becomes their field guide for an adventure of a lifetime. Preus's latest is a modern and slightly dystopian fairy-tale based on Norwegian folklore. Her hypnotic writing will tug at readers' hearts and keep them mesmerized. Veve's illustrations and maps add interest and enhance the text. VERDICT This must-read grand adventure with unlikely heroes will appeal to all fantasy lovers.—Nancy Hawkins - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

School Library Journal - 09/01/2022 - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

School Library Journal - 09/01/2022 - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 08/01/2022 Children are no longer allowed outdoors, since they might be swept up by the wind that drives swirling snowflakes and never seen again. Years ago that was the fate of Tag’s older sisters. Now determined to find them, she joins a ragtag band of other “youngers” with similar stories, bound together by their determination to rescue the lost children. They struggle to reach the distant mountains where the captives might be held, while Tag occasionally reads aloud to her companions from a forbidden book of fairy tales, in hopes of learning practical techniques for dealing with trolls. Along the way, they occasionally encounter helpful strangers. In the end, though, they must rely on one another. Preus grounds the fantasy by detailing the skewed reality of Tag’s everyday life before leaving home and by keeping her thoughts and emotions at the forefront during her journey. Written in third person, the narrative becomes increasingly involving as Tag and her companions reveal more of themselves to one another and to readers. An engaging adventure story well suited to reading aloud. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.