Lucy Darrington has no choice but to run away from boarding school. Her father, an expert on the supernatural, has been away for too long while doing research in Saarthe, a remote territory in the Pacific Northwest populated by towering redwoods, timber barons, and the Lupine people. But upon arriving, she learns her father is missing: Rumor has it he’s gone in search of dreamwood, a rare tree with magical properties that just might hold the cure for the blight that’s ravaging the forests of Saarthe. Determined to find her father (and possibly save Saarthe), Lucy and her vexingly stubborn friend Pete follow William Darrington’s trail to the deadly woods on Devil’s Thumb. As they encounter Lupine princesses, giant sea serpents, and all manner of terrifying creatures, Lucy hasn’t reckoned that the dreamwood itself might be the greatest threat of all. Gr 5–8—Lucy Darrington's adventures begin on a train as she flees a starched ladies finishing school to join her ghost-chasing father on the west coast of the vaguely Victorian, slightly steampunk American States. When Lucy arrives in the town of Saarthe, her father has disappeared and the community faces a terrible tree blight called Rust, which threatens the timber industry and everyone's livelihood. Lucy and her landlord's son, Peter, set out to find her father and Dreamwood, a legendary cure for Rust in a mystical region called Devil's Thumb. They face the menacing tests and traps of the carnivorous tree spirit His-sey-ak. The villain does not easily suffer greedy mortals to cross its land, and their death-defying expedition requires the combination of Lucy's research and steampunk gadgets with Peter's common sense. Mackey combines fantasy, ecology, and adventure in her debut novel, all to good effect. Vivid desciptions (such as a tree that digests blood and sea serpents that can be harnessed to speed a boat ride) capture the imagination at every turn. Dialogue and perilous situations nudge the story along at a steady clip, with the second half a breathless page turner. Dreamwood will please character-focused readers. Hand this to children who want an environmental adventure like Eva Ibbotson's Journey to the River Sea (Dutton, 2002) or a character-grounded speculation like Kenneth Oppel's Airborn (HarperCollins, 2004).—Caitlin Augusta, Stratford Library Association, CT Lucy Darrington, on the run from a terrifically boring and lonely boarding school, is searching for her father, a ghostologist, in this sharp new story. While trying to find him and root out what he was looking for, a secret cure-all called dreamwood, Lucy encounters all manner of menacing scares, from prospective outlaws on the train, to werewolf princesses in the secret world of the dreamwood. Along with her father’s ghost-finding gadgets and her new friends Pete and Niwa, she faces delight and danger alike. Lucy is a bright, hopeful young lead; her new friend Pete is an adventurer at heart; and First Peoples’ royal Niwa is sparkling and bold. The book has a steampunk feel to it, thanks to Lucy’s father’s inventions, and it would be a good option for young readers not quite ready for young-adult genre titles such as the Finishing School series, by Gail Carriger. Mackey’s descriptions of the creatures and hazards of the dreamwood are gorgeous and lush, a fantastic setting for a fantastic tale. Grades 5-8. --Stacey Comfort "Wildly inventive. Like this novel, Lucy is brave, smart, and destined for greatness."—Holly Goldberg Sloan,  New York Times  bestselling author of  Counting By 7s “An original fantasy for middle-grade readers plaits together science, the supernatural and deep ecology . . . The carefully plotted twists and turns will keep readers absorbed to the end. A stunning debut with equal parts originality and heart.”— Kirkus Reviews , starred review After an early job counting dead bugs in an entomology lab, Heather Mackey realized she was better at making up stories about imaginary science than practicing the real thing. She lives in Northern California—with her husband and two kids—where she’s still perfecting the ultimate dance party playlist. “In any of your stories is there an uncanny place?” Lucy asked. “Graveyards where people see ghosts, hollows where people hear voices even when no one’s around?”“Oh ho.” Anya chuckled. “Stories like that are a penny a pound in Saarthe. But the stories your father most wanted to hear were about the Thumb.”Lucy frowned at this. “What’s that?”Anya pressed her floury hand onto the table. “This here’s Saarthe.” She pointed to her palm and fingers. “And this is Devil’s Thumb.”The cook’s broad brown knuckle jutted out into the snowy white flour.“Why is it the Devil’s?”Anya wiped her hands. Her eyes held Lucy’s. “Because it’s cursed.”