ROOT BOUND Tour and Review!!!

Welcome to my stop on the tour for Root Bound (Emma and the Elementals Volume 1)
by Tanya Karen Gough.

Root Bound is an upper Middle Grade fantasy adventure recommended for ages 10+.
The tour is to run February 3-14 with reviews only.  Be sure to check out all the details and the tour schedule on the tour page.

About the Book:

Root Bound is a fast-paced, action fantasy novel about a young girl finding her place in
the world through a series of adventures involving magical creatures, and a journey to the centre of
the earth. Root Bound is both a topsy-turvy riff on traditional literary children's fantasy and an
allegorical coming-of-age tale.

Emma and her father, a jazz musician, are always on the move, travelling from place to place as her father’s work demands. Their new home, however, is different. There’s a frightening woman who lives down the hall: she bears an uncanny resemblance to a witch. A mysterious light comes from her apartment, and a small boy seems to be trapped inside.

School in this town is no happy place either, with an odd principal and a gang of girls who make tormenting Emma their special project. And strangest of all is the fact that there seem to be brownies - basement brownies, in the air vent in her bedroom. They are searching for the Wanderer, a powerful being who can help free the Crown Prince of Under from the black magic prison that holds him. Emma travels through the brownie burrow to the valley of Hades to visit with the goddess Ceres, following a series of clues that lead her across the sea of memory to the centre of the world. There, on an inhospitable rock floating in a sea of steaming lava, Emma must find a way to free the prince, release her mother from the sea of memory, and restore magic to both the brownie burrow and the human world above.

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My Review / Thoughts:

This was such a fun book to read.  The whole time I was reading it I was thinking how much my younger kids would like it.  It is such a cute story.

Emma and her father move around a lot so being in a new place, a new school, new surroundings wasn't "new" to her.  She had done it many times before.  This time there is an old woman living in the same building who seems to not be the kindest person.  Emma begins to see strange things, and hear strange things.  

The house seems to be alive, but she knows that cannot be.  Then one night the house sneezed, and she saw eyes in a vent, and heard little creatures talking.  She discovers there is much more to this house than meets the eye.

This is such a fun fairy tale.  I love the little brownies, and the humor that comes with them.  I have never thought of my house being "alive" but this story brings a whole new light to how it could be.  

There are some great quotes in this book also.  Here are just a few of my favorites.  

"Wanting something to be true only makes it real if it was already meant to be"

"And what did I tell you about the power of the written word?" the voice echoed.  "That books contain all the wisdom of the ages sir!"

"This is crazy, Emma thought to herself.  I'm in the middle of the earth with a bunch of basement brownies, trying to climb a prehistoric bird"

I love reading a book that gives me quotes that both, make me think, and make me laugh.  There is so much humor in this book, that I often found my self laughing out loud.  Especially at one of the brownies and his need for his "breakfast".  You will have to read it to know what I am talking about, but I just giggled every time he mentions it.  

This was such a feel good book.  I think some of that might be because it was written for middle grade ages, but I think it would be enjoyable for any age.  I felt like a little kid again, sitting in my room listening to a bed time story.  

The book took me into a part of my imagination that never wants to grow up.  That still dreams of fairies, and creatures, that would take me away to a better place.  I don't think Emma thought she was in a better place, but she was put in her house, at a certain time, to make everything else better.  

I could follow her journey in my head, and it was brought to life with the words written in this story.  I cannot wait to read this with my two younger kids.  I hope that the book comes to life for them like it did me.

This was a great story about how good over comes evil.  It was clean, and funny, and full of adventure.

Source:  I was given this book as tour host.  I was not compensated in anyway for this review, and these are

 my own PERSONAL thoughts on the book.

My Rating:

About the Author:

Tanya Karen Gough owned and published The Poor Yorick Shakespeare Catalogue from 1997-2007, earning a strong international customer base of world class academics and high school educators.

Tanya was also a contributing editor for the Internet Shakespeare Editions at the University of Victoria (BC), audio advisor for the Sourcebooks Shakespeare textbook series, and theatre reviewer for Playshakespeare.com. Tanya grew up in New Hampshire and currently lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Author Links:

 Blog | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter

Giveaway:

$25 gift card to bookstore of choice, or $25 in books from TBD. Open worldwide.
Read terms and conditions before entering giveaway.

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This tour was organized by CBB Book Promotions