Wondrous Rex

November 1, 2019
Seven-year-old Grace knows a great many words, but she can't bring herself to string them together on paper. In her eyes, this gift is unique to her writer aunt, Lily, with whom she spends her afternoons. Lily, however, has found herself bereft of ideas, and out of desperation she puts out an ad for a writing assistant. Enter Rex: a dog whose apparent oddities cleverly conceal a magic that, while unexplained, is quietly remarkable. Rex inspires Lily almost immediately, and the two find happiness in their new partnership. Similarly, Rex inspires Grace to turn her words into stories. Her reservations will feel familiar to any fledgling pen-pusher: not knowing how to write what she feels, how to start, or how to press on. Those reservations extend into her everyday life, as it fills and changes in ways she never foresaw, but her small network--loving (if busy and often absent) parents, the wondrous Rex, Lily and her writing group, the encouraging teacher Ms. Luce, and steadfast, unflappable Daniel, Grace's best friend--remains by her side throughout her writer's journey. MacLachlan spins from simple words an enigmatic, gentle, but perhaps too succinct tale. While Grace's first-person narration doesn't quite ring true to her young age, (a lack of contractions makes the prose oddly formal), charmingly scratchy pencil sketches scattered throughout mitigate this alienating effect. The only physical descriptions to be found are attached to the animal characters. Sweetly magical. (Fantasy. 8-12)

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December 23, 2019
A charmed (and charming) dog, a language-loving girl, and an innate aunt-niece bond are among the alluring threads that MacLachlan (Dream Within a Dream) deftly weaves into this taut novel. Seven-year-old Grace’s aunt Lily, a writer frustrated by her dearth of story ideas, posts an ad for an assistant—“for inspiration and some magic!” A magician soon appears at her door with unlikely assistant Rex, a Lab who is bored, “needs new work,” and “will make you happy.” That proves true when the dog suddenly types words from Toni Morrison on Lily’s computer keyboard: “If you find a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” This is the first of Rex’s sly nudges that provide both Lily and Grace—a collector of words who hasn’t yet discovered how to string them together—with the confidence and inspiration to find their creative voices. MacLachlan again proves her gift for shaping endearing and credible characters—even a magical canine—in this bright yet reflective story. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12.