Furthermore by Taherah Mafi

Alice lived in a time before proper maps, before street signs and numbered homes. She lived in a time when leaving home meant saying good-bye and hoping you'd be able to find your way back. 

Hope, you see, was all she had, and she would hold on to it, come hills or high water.

Middle grade is hard. Growing up it was all I read, seeing as I was in the (surprise!)...middle grade. But as I drifted over into young adult, it became harder and harder to go back to middle grade. The concepts never were delved into enough. The characters seeming more like cartoons, or cutouts. 

I went into Furthermore with high hopes. I haven't read much of Taherah Mafi's work, but from what I heard about her writing, I knew that if anyone could make middle grade amazing, it would be her. 

This book is released on August 30th, 2016

Stats:

Genre:  Middle grade fantasy

Feelings: I felt, but this isn't written to be an emotional disaster

Cuteness: ...middle grade. so like. no romance 

Fast pacing: Not quite an action filled book but I personally never got bored.

Series: .............yes. 

Read if you like: Alice in Wonderland, quirky writing styles, bizarre worlds 

Content: Very limited. Middle grade perks!

Trigger warning? Um. Aggresive paper animals? Missing father, harsh mother, prejudice and vague themes of discrimination.

In summary... Alice wants few things in life: Her father back, and to have a true talent like all the other kids. Instead what she gets is some weird boy showing up and dragging her into another world completely, where hopefully....the truth about her and her father will lie.

Thoughts: Thickly embroidered fabric, layers upon layers of threa and stitching until it's almost too heavy to wear

Messages: Purpose

Overall

Rating: 4/5

FURTHERMORE: A recipe

1: One cup of The Phantom Toolbooth for the aesthetics

The Phantom Toolbooth remains one of my favorite middle grade novels. It's witty, clever, full of odd tidbits and things that are taken Very Literally. When you "jump to conclusions" in this world you literally go flying over to the island of conclusions. 

Furhtermore has that element. Everything has that vibrant feel, the colors and cleverness in simply the way things are named and done. It's very different then The Phantom Toolbooth, but reading it gave me that nostalgic feel. 

2: A pinch of Harry Potter and The Sorcerors Stone, (be sure to remove the Wizard schools) for the story worlds.

The first Harry Potter book has this magic feel to it. The way everyone interacts with eachother at the train station and specifaclally on hogwarts express and diagon alley sucks you in and leaves you smiling simply because it feels so real and so magical. Harry Potter is written in a way that never feels like a book, but a recording of actual places, actual events.

Reading the pages of Furhtermore was like boarding that train one more time because everything felt like a real place. Never did this feel like a poorly developed middle grade book of Concepts. It was a real place. Real people. 

3. A few slices of Alice in Wonderland  for the characters

Lewis Caroll was a crazy maniac. Everyone tries to pick apart Alice in Wonderland but let's be real it's basically just the equivelant of a bunch of random ramblings that were made artsy and clever. Furhtermore's characters specifically made me think of Wonderland. 

Furthermore's Alice has a whole lot more of a personality than Wonderland Alice, but all the characters in Furhtermore had this almost ultra-color sheen over them. Like they all represented odd traits and concepts of a child's imagination. Like Wonderland, all the character's weren't just there as characters, they were there as concepts in and of themselves. They set new definitons and examples for fiction. Every character you met in Furthermore was Big and Bright and had a Reason for being there. And I really appreciated that. 

Everything in Furthermore was strange. And slightly disturbing. Like Wonderland. But better and brighter.

4:  A generous sprinkling of Terry Pratchett  for the writing

Terry Pratchett is pretty much one of the greatest writers I have yet to discver simply because of his prose-work. 

The voice in Furthermore was so distinct and witty, that while it wasn't a Terry Pratcheet exact voice, it was the perfect voice for the story. Just as Terry's dry prose was perfect for the Discworld books, Taherah's prose and voice is so perfect for the world of Furthermore. Her random inerjecations and comments as the narrator make you grin, her descriptions make you swoon, her humor makes you love every second you spend in these pages. Basically, Taherah has acheived something Terry acheived and I, as a writer, deeply wish I could acheive. She has made a voice her own and made it work so impossibly well for a story and concept that you couldn't imagine the story told my anyone else.


Combine these elements and bake over a multicolored fire, add in a few sprinkles and measure with a yard stick to make sure the product is exactly the size it needs to be. If you followed this recipe correctly, it will have been much too short. Which means, you'll have to tune in next time for the second addition to this recipe. (hint: there is a sequel)



In short, Furthermore is one of the more fun books I've read this year. It's defintely the best middle grade I've read in a long time. It's rich, colorful, dakr, distburning and whimsical all at once. I don't have a whole lot to complain about it, to be perfectly honest. If you're a fan of middle grade or a fan of any of the books listed above, check this one out. 

Get lost in Furthermore. Never come out, if you so please.