Liesel and Po

Liesl and PoLiesl and Po

an illustrated, middle grade fantasy by Lauren Oliver

Liesel has been locked in the cold attic room of her house.  Her conniving stepmother doesn’t want her around since her father passed away – she has designs of Liesel’s inheritence.  Liesel sits alone day after day – sometimes drawing to fill her time.  Her only companions are mice and shadows. Then one day Po — a ghost from the Other Side  — emerges from the shimmering shadows. The two become friends and Po helps her escape the locked room to bring her father’s ashes home to rest with her mother by the willow tree.

Soon they meet up with Will, an alchemist’s apprentice.  He inadvertently sets them all on a dangerous journey when he bungles  his delivery and swithces the box containing the ashes of Liesl’s father with one holding “the Most Powerful Magic in the World.” Part ghost story, part fantasy and part fairy tale, Liesel and Po is a book full of characters you can care for and characters who satsifyingly get what they deserve.

The story is full of descriptive and playful language.  It would be a great choice for a read aloud.  It is a powerful story – you’ll be sucked in right from the start.