Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine Books for gifting me a digital ARC of this wonderful debut novel by Meg Shaffer - 5 magical stars!
Jack Masterson is the author and creator of the Clock Island series of children's books that have a cult-like following. But he quit writing years ago under mysterious circumstances, and has been living quietly on a small island off the coast of Maine with his illustrator, Hugo. Out of the blue, Jack announces that he has written a new book and will be having a contest, with the winner receiving the one and only copy. However, the contestants are picked by invitation only and there are only 4 selected. One of them is Lucy, who as a child ran away to Clock Island, wishing to be Jack's sidekick. Now living on the other side of the country, she is barely surviving as a kindergarten aide and desperately wants to adopt Christopher, a little boy at her school who has seen such trauma in his young life. But she's been told she doesn't have a home or a car and thus isn't eligible to foster or adopt him. She's hoping that she can win the contest to make her wishes come true.
This was such a fabulous book - I raced through it but didn't want it to end! It's similar to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but based around books, which of course is wonderful! Extra fun is to be had with all the riddles and challenges in the book. The cast of characters are so incredibly heartwarming, yet they all face real life problems and fears. Facing your fears is a lesson that Jack has stressed in his books, and he has some of his own fears to conquer. Highly recommended - would be a great YA book as well.
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