Little (Grrl) Lost [Paperback]

Charles de Lint (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 8, 2009

When T.J. and her family are forced to move from their farm to the Newford suburbs, she makes an unexpected new friend - Elizabeth, a punked-out teen runaway with a big attitude - who also happens to be a "Little," standing just six inches tall. Her family lives inside the walls of T.J.'s house. T.J. and Elizabeth soon forge a prickly friendship that's put to the test when each girl finds herself in dangerous territory, without any way to help the other. Both have to learn the hard way whom to trust, and how to rely on their instincts and find kindred spirits. Little (Grrl) Lost is Charles de Lint at his captivating best.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Imagine Mary Norton's quirky Borrowers as twenty-first-century Goth teens bent on discovering their true genealogy. De Lint has crafted a delightfully edgy fantasy that will lead teens to his popular adult series of Newford books, where magic and fantasy thrive in a seemingly ordinary community. Fourteen-year-old T. J.'s family has been forced to move to a suburb, leaving behind their family farm and T. J.'s beloved horse. Shy and awkward, T. J. has trouble finding a niche in her new school, and she misses her old friends desperately. Enter Elizabeth Wood, a 16-year-old "Little" who is six inches tall and all punky attitude (four-letter words abound). T. J. and Elizabeth are both fascinated and sometimes disgusted by each other, and they form a tight, complicated friendship that sees them through a slew of adventures in both the quotidian and magical worlds. As in The Blue Girl (2001), de Lint mixes marvelous fantastical creatures and realities as he taps into young women's need to feel unique, understood, and valued. Carton, Debbie --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"T.J. and Elizabeth are appealing, genuine characters . . . and de Lint's narrative is rich, vivid, and descriptive. Those unfamiliar with de Lint's work will love this gateway to Newford, and fans will be in line already. Buy two." - VOYA

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Firebird; Reprint edition (January 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142413011
• ISBN-13: 978-0142413012
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,255,549 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #75 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Social Issues > Runaways

More About the Author

Charles de Lint and his wife, the artist MaryAnn Harris, live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. His evocative novels, including Moonheart, Forests of the Heart, and The Onion Girl, have earned him a devoted following and critical acclaim as a master of contemporary magical fiction

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great CdL book for Middle School readers, December 18, 2007

By 

J. A. O'Brien "Long-time Amazon devotee" (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Little (Grrl) Lost (Hardcover)

I've been reading Charles de Lint novels and short stories for nearly as long as he's been writing them. And in that time I've recommended various books to people of a variety of ages. However, as fun as his books can be, not nearly enough of them were appropriate for younger readers.

I was very excited to see this title added to his small, but growing list of books geared towards younger readers. I think that this book is the first that would be appropriate for upper middle school readers.

Some of the complaints of one of the other reviewers are, to me, some of the strengths of this book for a younger audience. The narration stays fairly tightly focused on the two main characters: TJ & Elizabeth. The secondary characters are developed based on the amount of interaction TJ and Elizabeth have with them. And while both girls do change to varying degrees within the short time period of the book, the changes do not seem entirely implausible if you consider all that happens in that time.

This is a fine tale of how friends can change your life and yourself when you let them. And it is a fun entry into the rather large fantasy world of Charles de Lint.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars from [...], November 20, 2007

By 

Miss Print (NYC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Little (Grrl) Lost (Hardcover)

"Little (Grrl) Lost" is Charles De Lint's latest novel set in the fictitious city of Newford, the setting for much of De Lint's work that helped to establish the urban fantasy genre. "The Blue Girl" from 2006 is another novel set in Newford (Cliff note plot to that book: Punky teen Imogen wants to start fresh, and mistake-free, when her family moves to Newford. She makes friends with Maxine, straight-laced girl with an overprotective mother. As time passes the girls observe strange happenings at their school and wind up matching wits with some very mean fairies among other things.)

The story in "Little (Grrl) Lost" is refreshingly straightforward for a fantasy: Fourteen-year-old T.J. is furious when her family has to leave their farm and move to Newford. To makes matter worse, T.J. has to leave behind her horse, Red, and her best friend. T.J. has a hard time adjusting to city life and making new friends--until she meets Elizabeth: a punky teenager who lives with her family in the walls of T.J.'s house. Elizabeth is a Little by name. And literally, standing only six inches tall.

As time passes, the girls form an unlikely friendship and begin an even more surprising adventure as they navigate their way through Little-lore and the urban streets of Newford as T.J. tries to help Elizabeth find her way in the Big world (and maybe find her own place in Newford at the same time).

This novel is extremely complicated stylistically. The story is told in multiple points-of-view with varying narration styles. The amazing thing about this technique is that De Lint still manages to create a seamless narration. He transitions between sections easily without being redundant or leaving the reader at a loss.

In order to better establish the difference between the narrations, De Lint writes T.J.'s section using the traditional third-person, past tense narration ("Jane walked to the store.") incorporating periods from Geoff or Jaime's perspective to flesh out certain events. Elizabeth's sections, on the other hand, are written in the first-person, present tense ("I walk to the store."), a style that is becoming very common in contemporary novels. (This style is also what makes Elizabeth's sections of the narration sound more like De Lint's other YA Newford novel, "The Blue Girl.")

Most of the novel is set in the course of two very eventful days for the girls. Nonetheless, the narrative feels expansive. De Lint takes his time, fleshing out the details of T.J. and Elizabeth's adventures. The story is also fairly light, maintaining a generally upbeat feel.

The important thing to remember about the story is that T.J. is fourteen while Elizabeth is sixteen or seventeen. For this reason, T.J.'s sections of the story read younger than the rest. And rightly so. In addition to creating very individual "voices" for the protagonist's, De Lint also makes their age difference (and personality differences) clear with the divergent focuses of their narrative segments. That's really hard to do without making the characters seem exaggerated or flat.

Unfortunately, for prolific authors like De Lint comparisons become inevitable. The most obvious one being between "Little (Grrl) Lost" and "The Blue Girl" because the novels are both YA and close together in terms of publications. To be clear, this is not a fair comparison. "The Blue Girl" is longer which means it has more space to deal with plot issues, and the characters are older which means they are not going to sound like T.J. In fact, beyond being set in Newford, the books have nothing in common.

"Little (Grrl) Lost" does, however, have the same character types as "The Blue Girl": punk "bad" girl (Elizabeth/Imogen) and normal "goody-two-shoes" girl (T.J./Maxine). The difference is that the "good girl" gets a chance to voice her own opinions instead of leaving all of the narration to her best friend. This narrative split does, of course, create a different kind of novel but it is used here to good effect.

Despite it's relatively short length, "Little (Grrl) Lost" is rich with detail, but the narrative is never over the top with description or explanation. Even with its numerous narrative voices, the story is never redundant. Basically, "Little (Grrl) Lost" gets everything right in terms of writing conventions. De Lint once again brings Newford and his characters (Big or Little) to life in this vivid and magical novel.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, September 6, 2007

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little (Grrl) Lost (Hardcover)

Charles de Lint once said, "The fey wonders of the world only exist while there are those with the sight to see them."

Magical Folk are very particular who they appear to and not every Tom, Dick, or Mary can see them.

T.J., in LITTLE (GRRL) LOST, has the sight.

Scritch, scritch, scritch.....

T.J. has been hearing that sound for days now as she lay in her bed at night. Each time she turns on her light to investigate, the noises stop. She hopes its not mice making the racket. It didn't sound like mice and when she leaned her ear up against the baseboard she thought she actually heard....voices. Crazy, huh?

But then the impossible happened -- a door in the wall suddenly opened, splashing a stream of light, and out walked a little girl with bright blue hair and a dufflebag slung over her shoulder. She looked to be about six inches tall. Her parents were demanding that she come back this instant.

T.J. thought she was dreaming, but yet she was wide awake and this little girl was talking to her. She had a huge attitude, making her seem much taller than her six inches. It turned out that they had a lot in common and that night was the start of a friendship.

With two plots running, the main lesson learned from this story is that it doesn't matter if you are a Little or a Big, learning about yourself is a growing process that at times takes you on journeys you never would have imagined.

I didn't read much fantasy until a student put one of Charles de Lint's books in my hand - from that moment on I was hooked. His work (at least the ones I have read) I find to be engaging and easy to read. LITTLE (GRRL) LOST, his newest offering, is no exception. I finished it within a couple of hours. I think what I like most about his work is that it is not hardcore dark fantasy. Instead, it is contemporary fiction with all of the fantastical elements needed to be considered a fantasy selection - fairies, gnomes, goblins, and other magical creatures.

Reviewed by: coollibrarianchick