Unsearchable RichesChristian. Veg*n. Writer. Wife.

This is the best YA I’ve read since Laurie Halse Anderson’s Wintergirls. And since a while before that.

I am this book’s perfect reader. A love of Shakespeare, knowledge of the theatre, a love of fairies and pirates, and a lifelong desire to dye my hair COBALT BLUE. Clearly, Beatrice Shakespeare Smith is my literary kindred spirit. There is that accidental-trouble thing going on, too.

The book is purely delightful. The characters are all larger-than-life, though I admit to getting the three boy fairies (the little ones) confused with each other. The plotting is first rate, you can chart out the rising incidents, and each chapter ends with the stakes firmly higher than they were. The emotional conflicts deepen apace. And the end is, simply put, perfect, because it’s a reversal of what Bertie thought she needed in the beginning. And there’s the where-do-I-belong theme that is one of my favorites.

Books like this are why I read YA and why I try (and fail) to write it. I’m TRYING to think of a complaint. I mean, no book is perfect. Okay, the tango scene, which is the book’s editor’s favorite scene according to an interview, did nothing for me. I appreciated it MORE for the scene that followed with Nate. But, then, I am probably one of the few readers not caught in Ariel’s web.

TEAMNATE forever and ever. How can you NOT prefer him over that silly ulterior-motive laden fairy? And besides. Fairy. I’ll take a nice stubbly pirate any day. (Not least of which because when he forgets to shave, Toady works his pirate groove really well. So much so I fear to let him near a dock.)

PERCHANCE TO DREAM, the second book in the Theatre Illuminata series, debuts May 2010. (Is yours pre-ordered yet? Mine is.) I’ll be giving away a copy of ELS at the beginning of the month so you can see what the fuss is all about. I loved it that much, I’m sharing. But no, not my copy. That one’s going on the keeper shelf.