A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty

Madeleine and her mother have run away from their old life—well, Madeleine ran away, her mother followed, and they just never went back. Now they’re living in Cambridge and Madeleine’s doing her best to adjust to things and not miss everything she used to have. Meanwhile, in the town of Bonfire in the Kingdom of Cello, Elliot is in search of his father. The whole town thinks that his dad killed his brother and ran away with the Physics teacher, but Elliot is sure this can’t be what really happened and is determined to figure out the truth. As Madeleine and Elliot go about their lives, a crack—the first in centuries—opens between their worlds, and the two begin a very strange correspondence. At first, it’s the companionship and their sometimes silly exchanges that spur them to unravel their own mysteries, but soon it becomes clear that there are greater things at stake: color storms, old forgotten friends, the Butterfly child, the lives of their loved ones, and a set of perplexingly missing persons.

I have been a devoted fan of Jaclyn Moriarty ever since I read and fell in love with The Year of Secret Assignments years ago, and while I have not absolutely loved every single of her books that I’ve ever read, I am always eager to pick up her new ones. I am so pleased to say that Moriarty’s newest novel, A Corner of White, is most certainly one worth reading. Though it took me some time to truly get into the story, especially since there are so many different perspectives, I soon found myself thoroughly invested in the happenings of Madeleine’s life in the real world and Elliot’s life in Cello. Moriarty is a delightful storyteller; as in her previous books, she weaves so many charming, quirky, and sometimes strange details into A Corner of White that the reader feels transported to these rich new settings, both realistic and fantastical. I was completely along for the ride in this spectacular book, and the cliffhanger ending only makes me more eager for the next installment in The Colors of Madeleine trilogy.

Fans of Moriarty’s previous books will not want to miss her new one in A Corner of White, nor will readers who also enjoyed Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor and Why I Let My Hair Grow Out by Maryrose Wood.

Rating: 4.75

Review copy from publisher Scholastic