Shannon C.’s review of Little (Grrl) Lost (Newford series) by Charles de Lint
YA Urban fantasy released by Viking Juvenile 6 Sep 07

I love Charles de Lint. He’s remained a consistent favorite for me for many years. Every time I pick up an urban fantasy, I keep hoping for a de Lint-esque writing experience. He’s one of the few authors out there who really gives me a sense of wonder when I visit his world. Not all of his books are keepers — in fact, I’ve been on sort of a losing streak with the last few of his releases I’ve read — but none are godawful, except, possibly, Spirits in the Wires, which I choose to pretend never happened. But I do like the direction he’s been going lately with his YA stuff, so I was excited for this book.

I was actually quite pleased with LGL. De Lint does a great job of infusing the modern urban world with a true sense of wonder, a feeling that, if you looked out of the corner of your eye, you might actually encounter a fairy or a hobb somewhere. And as usual, he writes some of the best female characters out there, despite the fact that he is, well, a man. I loved both T.J. and Elizabeth, the girls in this book. Both felt very much like real teenagers, with their struggles and angst, and I was relieved that this was a very cheerful story that wasn’t bogged down by so much internal angst.

As usual, I loved the paranormal stuff here. The story mainly concerns Littles, six-inch-tall people who live between the walls of normal-sized people’s houses. There are other creatures that make appearances, too, from gnomes to hobbs to sentient animals, and all of them are unique and memorable.

The secondary characters are good as well. I fell in love with T.J.’s possible romantic interest long before she did, since he is such a cute proto-romance hero. We don’t get much in his POV, but what is shown of his character made me really like him. Other characters, like Hedley the Gnome, Bakro, a Feral (meaning not house-bound) Little, and Sheri Piper, a writer of children’s books who plays an important role in the story, are equally fascinating.

The only sour note that was ever struck was with Geoff, a boy T.J. meets at a bookstore who fails utterly to believe T.J.’s story about having a Little for a friend. He reacts, in my opinion, fairly reasonably if a bit rashly, and his head is bitten off for it. I didn’t think that was fair, and it annoyed me enough to bring the grade down.

This is very much a coming-of-age story, and it really works as such. I enjoyed reading it, and think it would be a good place for readers interested in Charles de Lint to pick up with his Newford books.

Grade: B

Summary:
When fourteen-year-old TJ and her family are forced to move from their farm to the suburbs, she has to give up her beloved horse, Red, but she makes a surprising new friend. Elizabeth is a Little, a six-inch-high punked-out teen with an attitude, who has run away from home to make her way in the world. TJ and Elizabeth the Big and the Little soon become friends, but each quickly finds herself in a truly life-threatening situation, and they are unable to help each other.

No excerpt is available.