The cover and title are reminiscent of fairy tales, but this story is anything but. Hegland tells the tale of a world gone bad. Electricity is gone, plagues are ravaging the land, and two teens are left orphaned in their home, miles from civilization. This story is not only poignant, but terrifying. It tells of Eva and Nell, ballerina and scholar, who must overcome nature to survive. At first, they think that the world is in a temporary state and that eventually everything will return to normal. But as first their mother and then their father die, they realize that maybe things won’t change. Hegland weaves an engrossing narrative with brilliant, vivid characters. This is the type of book that once you start you won’t be able to put down until the very end.
Into the Forest by Jean Hegland
April 28, 2008 by Kate Hall
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Hi, Kate, it’s Amanda from book club… this is one of my favorites! I actually read it because I mentioned to a bookseller how much I loved the book How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff and she said these two had somewhat similar situations. They do, but both are written so differently. This is really engrossing isn’t it?