Pages & Co.: Tilly and the Bookwanderers: Book 1

Product Information

I love middle-grade fantasies and when a book is set in a bookshop or a library, it's even better. When I read the blurb about this, I knew that I had to read it but I was not very impressed with this. It's an unpopular opinion and here it goes. I am not sure whether or not I’ll read the rest of the series. This book’s story felt complete in its own way and I felt satisfied when I got to the end of it. Then again, I’d probably enjoy spending more time with these characters. I love Tilly and Oscar. I think it is a good choice that in a book about books to have the character Oscar have dyslexia and show how he often reads audiobooks and that yes they count. I love Amelia and both of Tilly’s grandparents. I like Oscar’s mother too. I appreciate it when older characters in children’s books are written as interesting and fully developed people. There is a scary villain in this story, more frightening than I would have expected in a story for this age group, but I’d have probably taken that more in stride when I was in elementary school than I do now. One of the things that honestly caught me off guard about this one, was that there was a genuinely interesting mystery happening around her about her mother's whereabouts and where that plot goes is actually such a great twist. I never saw it coming and I thought it was brilliant. There are a lot of family and friendship themes in this story and the grandparents may not be the most generous with giving details about their missing daughter (they are in a lot of pain themselves over it), but they are loving and supportive and doing their absolute best for Tilly. I really appreciate seeing different family units in middle-grade and I appreciate it even more when they are loving and involved, which these grandparents very much are. Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale.

Books — Anna James

A magical adventure to delight the imagination. A curl-up-on-the-sofa debut from a uniquely talented author. I think a bookshop is like a map of the world. There are infinite paths you can take through it and none of them are right or wrong. Here in a bookshop we give readers landmarks to help them find their way, but every reader has to learn to set their own compass.”

You follow Tilly who is living with her grandparents after her mother mysteriously disappeared after she was born. Her father was gone before she was born and there isn't much information on him. One day, Tilly finds a box of her mothers old books and suddenly she starts to see characters from books. Alice and Anne also take Tilly into their worlds. Tilly soon learns that she's a bookwanderer and about the rules for doing so. She also realises that there are some mysteries surrounding her mothers disappearance and she takes them upon herself to find out more...

Tilly and the Bookwanderers Quotes by Anna James - Goodreads Tilly and the Bookwanderers Quotes by Anna James - Goodreads

You know when you walk into a bookshop and you see all those thousands of books lined up in front of you? That intoxicating feeling of knowing that behind each cover is a different world to explore, like thousands of tiny portals? That adrenaline rush just before you open a new book? The thrill of being surrounded by fellow book lovers? That is what fuels bookwandering, and it comes to life in bookshops." A sweet book about reading and loving stories. Bookwandering is a cool meta kind of magic and seems like a promising thing to base a series on.but the baddies are more interesting sometimes, don't you think? Or the heroes who aren't always very heroic. People who do the right thing for the wrong reasons or the wrong thing for the right reasons.” It’s wonderfully imaginative and the first of a series I plan to continue. There are so many interesting things to explore in this world that I’m sure the series will be great! Trigger warnings for parental abandonment discussed, serious illness of a grandmother mentioned, death of a father discussed, the disappearance of a parent & daughter, and bullying. Milo Bolt is ready to be the hero of his own story. With Uncle Horatio trapped in an enchanted sleep by the power-hungry Alchemist, he sets off with his new friend Alessia to find a cure.