Mara is the granddaughter of Stribog, the god of winter winds. Although you couldn’t tell it by looking at her as she much more resembles her human father than her frost goddess mother. In Stribog’s palace this set her apart from the others and made her feel small and unimportant. Yet, when she visits her father’s human family, they do not care what she looks like and see only the strange magic blood that resides in her veins. When her father dies, Mara has forty days to find the two parts of his soul and return them to his body. It has never been done before, but then there has never been a girl like Mara before either…
As a girl stuck between two worlds and not quite fitting in either, Mara finds a remarkable strength in focussing on the things that she does know. Although her quest to save her father is born of grief and desperation, it is also a brave and determined choice. Not once does she hesitate to leave her family behind and set off into the unknown wilds of an unfamiliar world. At each challenge she takes control of the situation and uses her own skills and knowledge to move forwards. I think that the way that she communicates as an equal with many of the adults in her life would be a particularly empowering concept for a child reader.
The magic in this book is presented in a very straightforward way. To Mara these occurrences are ordinary and have rules that she can follow to achieve the desired outcome. To her friend Torniv these occurrences are unusual and occasionally a bit scary. However, as with Mara, having a set of rules and rituals to follow makes each encounter much more understandable and easier to navigate. When necessary they rebel against these rules, but it is never done lightly. Once again this is a great message to child readers who need rules and rituals to help them through the everyday challenges of real life.
Although I have talked about child readers in this review, and the book is aimed at a middle grade audience, I would recommend ‘The Wind Child’ to anyone who wants an uncomplicated and uplifting magical read.
Escape to the Bookshelf 