The Wilderness of Girls
by Madeline Claire Franklin
Zando Young Readers, 2024. 360 pages.
Review written December 7, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review
This is a story where you’re never quite sure if the magic really happened. I’m going to give the magic the benefit of the doubt and list in in the Paranormal section of my Teen reviews page.
The book opens on the night Eden’s father is arrested for embezzlement. The same night, her stepmother takes off for a tropical resort, and her stepbrother is doing graduate work in Germany – so Eden goes to stay with her Uncle Jimmy in Happy Valley. Even though she hasn’t seen much of Jimmy since her mother died many years ago, since her father kept him away from her.
Eden decides to change her name to Rhi, and adjusts to life in Happy Valley, though she still doesn’t have many friends. But she does some work for the rangers at the wildlife preserve, and one day when she’s walking a trail, she discovers four wild girls accompanied by two wolves – and one of the girls has her leg stuck in a bear trap.
The wolves tell the girls they can trust Rhi before they run off, and Rhi then becomes responsible for getting them help. The girl in the trap would lose her leg if she didn’t, but she feels a bit guilty.
It turns out that the girls have lived in the wilderness for thirteen years, cared for by a man named Mother. They lived in a “castle” – a giant hollow tree. He told them that they were four princesses from another world, Leutheria. And he’d seen a vision that soon after they found their fifth sister, a portal would open to bring them back to Leutheria and save that world.
But after Mother died – not long before Rhi found them – his magic stopped protecting their castle and it toppled. They are not angry with Rhi for taking them from the wild, because they believe she is the fifth princess. And that they’ll all go back to Leutheria together at the next lunar eclipse.
In the process of adjusting to the modern “civilized” world, many things happen to challenge their beliefs in what Mother told them. Was Mother a liar all along? A run-of-the-mill kidnapper? Can his prophecies be trusted? Is the magic real? And through it all, Rhi is walking with the girls, trying to come to terms with her own past.
It’s all very beautifully done, and I love the way the girls, including Rhi, are portrayed as growing strong and figuring out their own destiny rather than necessarily accepting the destiny put upon them. The characters – good and bad – are distinctively drawn and you feel the power of Rhi finding belonging and courage.
madelineclairefranklin.com
zandoprojects.com
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