Etta Invincible
Reese Eschmann
Etta Invincible was not what I expected. I expected a warm and cuddly children's adventure with a Disney-style happy ending. That's not what it is. There is no Prince Charming swanning his way in to save the Princess, no Wizard to magically cure Etta's Meniere's disease. No one but Etta will save Etta, and Eschmann doesn't make it easy for her. Etta is a splendid heroine with a strong mind and heart.
Right from the beginning, Etta is an easy character to like. (OK, so that's ONE thing Eschmann makes easy.) Here are some thoughts that Etta thinks,
The paint on the windowsills is peeling very slowly, like an immortal snail has been cursed to make his way across our house for all eternity, breaking off tiny flecks of paint with his mucus and slime.
“I’m not Spider-Man,” Eleazar says. “But I like your comics. You’re cool.” As the words pop up on the screen, he nods definitively, as though that’s the end of that, and for the rest of my days I’ll now wear a sign that says HERE IS A GIRL WHO WAS ONCE DEEMED COOL.
The publisher's blurb is a good introduction to the plot. We begin with a few introductory chapters in which we meet Etta and she makes friends with Eleazar and his dog Louisa. Etta, Eleazar, and Louisa meet a magical train. Louisa runs aboard and the train leaves the station. Etta and Eleazar board the train to get her back. They must proceed from the back of the train through ten magical train cars to reach the engine room, where Louisa has gone. Each train car has its own magic and presents a different puzzle that they must solve in order to proceed to the next.
From this description you might get the idea that Etta Invincible is a kind of Pilgrim's Progress or Phantom Tollbooth, whose plot consists of our hero running a gamut of intellectual and emotional challenges. But it turns out to be much better than that. There is a real story, a real challenge to be met, a real danger to defeat. You will not understand this until deep into the book, but when you do, it all becomes so much more meaningful.
I was surprised by the emotional intensity of the second half of the book. Once Eschmann has gotten us to the point that we know the characters well enough to care about them, she takes advantage of that. It's powerfully affecting and even scary. A young kid reading it will be all up in her feels, as was I. There's nothing there, I think, that you would hesitate to read to a young kid, but it is gripping.
I hesitated about what rating to give Etta Invincible. I reserve five star ratings for books, that, in my judgment, have a claim to be called extraordinary. Etta Invincible is a candidate because of the strength of the character and the way the plot elicits that. The consideration that tipped me to five stars was this being Eschmann's debut novel. I want to read more from her.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an advance reviewer copy in exchange for an honest review.
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