Different than the Karen Cushman books Im used to but I enjoyed it ( )

There are many things I like about this book -- the medieval setting, the herbs, the Tyromancy and the papermaking and the the shapeshifting mouse companion. Altogether, many satisfying parts.The characters were hard to love. The way they talked to each other, and particularly to Pansy, while amusing in the use of period insult, was unkind. Does that make it more realistic? That there is frustrated yelling at each other and the road seems endless seems realistic, but if you constantly refer to a person as a useless lump of a girl, chances are good that she won't turn out well. Oh well, perfectly respectable, magical coming of age tale with unkind talk throughout. ( )

This book is appropriate for children in 5th-6th grade and has won the Newberry Award.

Pleasant--very pleasant, comforting like rice pudding--with perhaps the least impressive antagonist of all time, a quasi-fellowship that contributes very little, some slight growth on the part of the protagonist, and a marvellous creation in little Pook (I'm guessing at spelling, as I "read" this via Audible) who contributes almost nothing to the plot, but who gets the best characterization.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). ( )

Unfortunately, I could not get too involved in this book. It was so somber and glum that I felt a bit uneasy while reading it. Perhaps that it is just a book not to be read during cold, dreary Winter days!
To me, it seems like Karen Cushman has a very distinct writing style, and Grayling's Song is a very pure, distilled example. It is well written, and I believe many people would enjoy reading it. It is not my favorite of her books, though.


**eARC netgalley** ( )