"...sometimes when you're trying to have an adventure, the adventure is also trying to have you." (81)

Lucy isn't like her neat and tidy older sister Sally; she's constantly breaking rules and asking questions, and the most important question of all is the one she hasn't dared to ask yet: Where is her mother? Her father has only ever said "Gone," so one day, when Lucy's best friend Prince Wynston doesn't appear for their usual Sunday berry picking, Lucy gathers some supplies and heads for the hills to find out what happened to her mother - where did she go? Lucy brings a cow called Rosebud and a prairie dog called Cat, and the three of them venture into the Scratchy Mountains, to the rule-following town of Torrent, with Wynston and his horse Sprout not far behind.

See also: The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (YA), The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill, Minor Mage by T. Kingfisher

Quotes

"And shame is a terrible thing. Bad to feel, and worse to cause." (Willie, 212) ( )

Fun, especially for someone around the ages of 12 or so. ( )

I loved the description of this book - but when I started reading it I could not get into it. I read all the way through - but my heart was not into the story. ( )

Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains by Laurel Snyder is is the tale of an unlikely friendship between a farmer's daughter, Lucy, and a prince, Wynston. When King Desmond insists his son spend his time learning how to be a proper prince, Lucy decides it's high time to find her missing mother.

It takes a while for the adventure part of the book to get underway. The initial set up of the kingdom and the characters has a similar feel to A Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.

The trips up and down the mountain (one each for Lucy and Wyston) are the best parts of the book. Lucy's traveling companions are unusual and utterly charming. The mountain itself has some remarkable features and memorable inhabitants.

But the book just doesn't gel as well as Penny Dreadful. I would however love to re-visit the characters, especially with the unique compromise the king and Lucy's father make to accommodate their children's wishes. ( )

There were parts of this book that I liked, but overall the tone was simply too precious for me - it felt like it would be patronizing to kids. I also have problems with the main characters even being engaged at the end of the book since they're 12 and the world has not been set up as one in which children marry. It states at the end that they won't get married for years but we're clearly meant to believe that they are in love or meant for each other or some such hogwash. I found Lucy's response to her lack of knowledge about her mother to be somewhat interesting, but that didn't seem to fit with the rest of the book. Also - huge plot hole: Why weren't adults looking for Lucy and Wynston? Why were they waiting for them to come back? If there had been any sort of an answer for this, I wouldn't mind, but it's like the parents just assumed their kids would come back and be fine. This book made my teeth hurt and there were too many holes in the plot for my taste. It might appeal to those looking for something similar in style to The Tale of Despereaux but this is far inferior. ( )