Our summer of reading continues with The Word-Keeper by Veronia del Valle, a novel for young readers who are ready to sample some meaty words from the English language.
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The Book
Hidden within the fairytale world of Veronia del Valle is the story of Florence Ibbot, an 11-year-old girl who is oddly eloquent and a quiet observer of the world. After creating a bookmark named Ben, Florence finds herself in the middle of a fight to save the words from being destroyed. Ben the Bookmark is turned into an evil imp with only one objective: destroy all the words that live in the books. Florence is willing to sacrifice everything to protect the words. As she sets out to discover who is behind all of this, her journey takes her to the origins of writing and inspiration. She will have to face the most treacherous adversary, Zyler, a ruthless sorceress whose sole mission is to ruin one of our most possessions; the gift of language.
Thoughts on the Book
The story is filled with rich imagery as the world around the town of Inkwell is painted with vivid detail. My son was completely immersed in the story, but when I asked him what he liked about the book, he couldn’t put his finger on one part in particular. He just said he liked how he was able to understand the bigger words even though he had never seen them before. I am particularly fond of the journey to Inkwell at the beginning of the story and the field of feathers.
Thoughts on the Author
Veronica del Valle is a journalist and creative writing teacher living in Buenos Aires. She grew up in Argentina but lived in London for many years. In London, she earned her MA in creative writing at Kingston University, studied creative writing with Elise Valmorbida at Central Saint Martins and worked as a communications consultant, journalist, and editor. Veronica has always had a fondness for words, language, and storytelling. When it came to her first novel, it was clear to her to make it about the importance of books.
Overall
If there was ever a reason (or a reminder) why it is important to take a course or two in creative writing, this book is it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read plenty of wonderful books that have been written by people from different walks of life. But in order to weave a tale and captivate an audience, regardless of their age, you need to study language. Veronica uses plenty of “big words” that could confuse a younger reader but they don’t because of how they are woven into the story.
If you enjoyed this review, then make sure that you check out some of my other kids books for your little readers-