Review: The Lumbering Giants of Windy Pines
The Lumbering Giants of Windy Pines
by Mo Netz
Clarion Books (imprint of HarperCollins Publishers), 2024
Category: Middle Grade
Reviewer: Rebecca Klempner
Buy at Bookshop.org
For the last year, Mama and 11-year-old disabled Jerry have been bouncing between motels with cheap prices and wheelchair access in order for Mama to chase seasonal work. It's the only way they've figured out to make ends meet since Dad's death. Homeschooled, Jerry's chief companion has been her imaginary friend: a tiny dinosaur named Paul.
Mama tells Jerry that at the Slumbering Giant motel, they'll stay for good. Mama has been hired to clean rooms and do repairs at the motel. Her job includes some kind of mysterious work at night in the very forest that she's told Jerry to stay away from.
Late at night, Jerry awakes to strange static on the radio, and voices muttering messages about "the Witch of the Woods" and "Guardians." Mama sleeps through the noise. The next night, it happens again. This time, voices mention "the Giant."
The next day, Jerry meets Chapel Bell. Chapel is going to be staying at the motel for a while too, because her house recently burned down. When Chapel refers to the motel as "the Giant," Jerry realizes that the midnight radio voices were talking about the motel. When Jerry and Chapel visit the local library, they learn that there's a local myth about "shadow demons" tied to the disappearances of loggers in the woods.
One night, Mama goes into the woods and doesn't come home. Jerry takes a backpack, a flashlight, a radio, and the sword that her father had bought at the Renaissance fair, and rolls into the woods. She finds Mama's car but there's no Mama, only a map. The map mentions "Guardians". Are they connected to the midnight radio broadcasts?
Chapel follows Jerry into the woods and together they explore the trails and caverns on the map. They discover that the shadow demons are real. Will the girls be able to fend them off and rescue Mama? And will they find out why Mama went into the woods in the first place?
Early in the book, Jerry mentions being Jewish. It makes her uncomfortable about accepting the wheelchair donated to her by a church, and it serves as a frame of reference for her narration. She talks about golems, her imaginary dragon friend has a Yiddish accent, and she recalls the music the cantor sang at her grandparent's synagogue. These mentions in the first 50 pages or so make it seem like Jerry's Jewish heritage will be an important part of the book, but then the topic goes away for about a hundred pages. The only Jewish element after that is that one of the magical beings has a Hebrew name. Thus, I'd classify Judaism as casual in this book. I think that non-Jewish readers may notice the references that appear in it, but they don't really increase a reader's understanding of the Jewish experience. However, the representation of an empowered disabled heroine makes this fantasy adventure a stand-out, and her Jewish identity is a nice bonus.
Reviewer Rebecca Klempner is an author and editor. Her books include A Dozen Daisies for Raizy, Adina at Her Best, Glixman in a Fix, and How to Welcome an Alien. Additionally, she has published over 100 articles, reviews, essays, and stories in periodicals. She lives with her family in Los Angeles.
For the last year, Mama and 11-year-old disabled Jerry have been bouncing between motels with cheap prices and wheelchair access in order for Mama to chase seasonal work. It's the only way they've figured out to make ends meet since Dad's death. Homeschooled, Jerry's chief companion has been her imaginary friend: a tiny dinosaur named Paul.
Mama tells Jerry that at the Slumbering Giant motel, they'll stay for good. Mama has been hired to clean rooms and do repairs at the motel. Her job includes some kind of mysterious work at night in the very forest that she's told Jerry to stay away from.
Late at night, Jerry awakes to strange static on the radio, and voices muttering messages about "the Witch of the Woods" and "Guardians." Mama sleeps through the noise. The next night, it happens again. This time, voices mention "the Giant."
The next day, Jerry meets Chapel Bell. Chapel is going to be staying at the motel for a while too, because her house recently burned down. When Chapel refers to the motel as "the Giant," Jerry realizes that the midnight radio voices were talking about the motel. When Jerry and Chapel visit the local library, they learn that there's a local myth about "shadow demons" tied to the disappearances of loggers in the woods.
One night, Mama goes into the woods and doesn't come home. Jerry takes a backpack, a flashlight, a radio, and the sword that her father had bought at the Renaissance fair, and rolls into the woods. She finds Mama's car but there's no Mama, only a map. The map mentions "Guardians". Are they connected to the midnight radio broadcasts?
Chapel follows Jerry into the woods and together they explore the trails and caverns on the map. They discover that the shadow demons are real. Will the girls be able to fend them off and rescue Mama? And will they find out why Mama went into the woods in the first place?
Early in the book, Jerry mentions being Jewish. It makes her uncomfortable about accepting the wheelchair donated to her by a church, and it serves as a frame of reference for her narration. She talks about golems, her imaginary dragon friend has a Yiddish accent, and she recalls the music the cantor sang at her grandparent's synagogue. These mentions in the first 50 pages or so make it seem like Jerry's Jewish heritage will be an important part of the book, but then the topic goes away for about a hundred pages. The only Jewish element after that is that one of the magical beings has a Hebrew name. Thus, I'd classify Judaism as casual in this book. I think that non-Jewish readers may notice the references that appear in it, but they don't really increase a reader's understanding of the Jewish experience. However, the representation of an empowered disabled heroine makes this fantasy adventure a stand-out, and her Jewish identity is a nice bonus.
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