Breadcrumbs
by Anne Ursu
On This Page
Description
"Hazel and Jack are best friends until an accident with a magical mirror and a run-in with a villainous queen find Hazel on her own, entering an enchanted wood in the hopes of saving Jack's life" -- Provided by publisher.Tags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
BookshelfMonstrosity Brave girls who love to read and stories that come to life; one parent close and another distant; a supernatural arch-enemy; and a daring rescue mission inform these highly descriptive and enthralling fantasies.
20
BookshelfMonstrosity Ruled by a white witch, a wintry forest - enchanted and treacherous -- doesn't deter a young girl from trying to save a spellbound friend. Filled with fairy tale elements, both of these affecting fantasies speak to universal longings.
by jshonk
by bookel
Member Reviews
Hazel Anderson's friend Jack stops talking to her, and then he disappears. Hazel and Jack have been best friends for years, through Hazel's parents' divorce and Jack's mom's depression, and they have created refuge for themselves and each other with their fantastic imaginations. When Jack goes missing, Hazel goes after him: the princess on a quest to rescue the prince. But from whom is she rescuing him? And does he want to be rescued?
This is a magical, delightful book that seemed to be over before it began - but now I'm eager to read more of the author's work. Breadcrumbs owes a lot to the children's/YA fantasy canon (C.S. Lewis' Narnia, J.K. Rowling's Hogwarts, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, Neil Gaiman's Coraline, and a show more whole slew of fairy tales and mythology), and it tips its hat to all of these with elegance and a sense of humor.
Quotes
People were always doing this sort of thing to Hazel. Nobody could accept that she did not want to hear [scientific explanations]...The truth of things was always much more mundane than what she could imagine, and she did not understand why people always wanted to replace the marvelous things in her head with this miserable heap of you're-a-fifth-grader-now facts. (3)
This is what happens on journeys - the things you find are not necessarily the things you had gone looking for. (235)
Maybe she didn't belong anywhere else because she belonged here. (236)
She had believed that because someone needed saving they were savable. (247) show less
This is a magical, delightful book that seemed to be over before it began - but now I'm eager to read more of the author's work. Breadcrumbs owes a lot to the children's/YA fantasy canon (C.S. Lewis' Narnia, J.K. Rowling's Hogwarts, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, Neil Gaiman's Coraline, and a show more whole slew of fairy tales and mythology), and it tips its hat to all of these with elegance and a sense of humor.
Quotes
People were always doing this sort of thing to Hazel. Nobody could accept that she did not want to hear [scientific explanations]...The truth of things was always much more mundane than what she could imagine, and she did not understand why people always wanted to replace the marvelous things in her head with this miserable heap of you're-a-fifth-grader-now facts. (3)
This is what happens on journeys - the things you find are not necessarily the things you had gone looking for. (235)
Maybe she didn't belong anywhere else because she belonged here. (236)
She had believed that because someone needed saving they were savable. (247) show less
Where do I begin? I feel as though anything I write about Breadcrumbs won't do it justice. That all the feelings that are wrapped up inside of me are entirely too large to fit into a review. Still, a review is the only way I know how to show my appreciation for this magical book, and so I'll do my best. I'll tell you now, if I could give this book a million star rating? I would. The entire time I was lost in Anne Ursu's brilliant story, I felt like I might be a bit enchanted myself. That feeling still hasn't gone away.
The writing is exquisite. Ursu weaves her words into a world filled with crystalline white snow. A world filled with boring school days, vivid imaginations, rocky friendships and a web of magic that pulses underneath it show more all. I knew that this was a retelling of "The Snow Queen" from the synopsis. I thought I knew what to expect. I was wrong. This isn't just a retelling. Instead it is a gorgeous mesh of two parallel worlds. One is a world in which a little girl is looking for where she belongs. For how she is supposed to fit. Then there is another world where steeling yourself against the ice, where forging forward despite the odds, is the only way to survive. This story is many things, but most of all it's a story about growing up and trying to hang onto that piece of yourself that growing up threatens to take away.
I cannot express enough how much I loved Hazel as a character. I've worked with kids for many years, and I know that it's tough to write a middle grade character who is as vibrant and layered as they are. Hazel is so very close to perfection in that respect. I believed I was in the mind of a fifth grader. I believed that Hazel was a real person with real thoughts and feelings. It's true that she is wise beyond her years, but I think I saw a little bit of myself in her. Reading and imagination go hand in hand. They take you magical places, and help you see the world in a new light. For Hazel, they show her that sometimes words are plastic flowers. That sometimes parents are just as lost as you are. Most of all, that sometimes the only thing you can do is push forward. Especially when your best friend needs you.
If I don't stop here, I'll gush for ages. I really will. I loved everything about this book. I smiled, and I cried. I drank this down like a person who hasn't had anything to drink in years. There was something missing inside me, something that called me to read this book. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, this is the type of book that I want to read to my someday children. I would love to wrap myself up in its pages and live there forever. This book is pure magic, and it settles right into its rightful spot on my favorite books of all time. show less
The writing is exquisite. Ursu weaves her words into a world filled with crystalline white snow. A world filled with boring school days, vivid imaginations, rocky friendships and a web of magic that pulses underneath it show more all. I knew that this was a retelling of "The Snow Queen" from the synopsis. I thought I knew what to expect. I was wrong. This isn't just a retelling. Instead it is a gorgeous mesh of two parallel worlds. One is a world in which a little girl is looking for where she belongs. For how she is supposed to fit. Then there is another world where steeling yourself against the ice, where forging forward despite the odds, is the only way to survive. This story is many things, but most of all it's a story about growing up and trying to hang onto that piece of yourself that growing up threatens to take away.
I cannot express enough how much I loved Hazel as a character. I've worked with kids for many years, and I know that it's tough to write a middle grade character who is as vibrant and layered as they are. Hazel is so very close to perfection in that respect. I believed I was in the mind of a fifth grader. I believed that Hazel was a real person with real thoughts and feelings. It's true that she is wise beyond her years, but I think I saw a little bit of myself in her. Reading and imagination go hand in hand. They take you magical places, and help you see the world in a new light. For Hazel, they show her that sometimes words are plastic flowers. That sometimes parents are just as lost as you are. Most of all, that sometimes the only thing you can do is push forward. Especially when your best friend needs you.
If I don't stop here, I'll gush for ages. I really will. I loved everything about this book. I smiled, and I cried. I drank this down like a person who hasn't had anything to drink in years. There was something missing inside me, something that called me to read this book. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, this is the type of book that I want to read to my someday children. I would love to wrap myself up in its pages and live there forever. This book is pure magic, and it settles right into its rightful spot on my favorite books of all time. show less
I wasn't aware this was a middle-school book until I started reading it. I guess I didn't look closely at the cover or read the blurb well enough. It is a blessing that I didn't notice it was geared to 8-12 year old children or I never would have read it. This ended up being the mostly lovely story one could imagine. It features a unique and amazing main character named Hazel who is very aware that she doesn't fit it. She is imaginative and beautiful and adorable. Her voice is clearly unlike any other's I've read through the years. I just wanted to hug her and bring her home to live with me. She felt that real.
The story is loosely based on the famous fairy tale "The Snow Queen". I have read a couple of books based on it lately but two show more years ago I had never even heard of it. In this story, Hazel is best friends with Jack. He did something for her one time that proved how strong he valued her friendship. Nothing could come between the two of them...until something does. Something changes in a day's span and Jack is suddenly mean to Hazel. Everyone tells her these things happen, friendships change as people grow. Maybe, thinks Hazel, but not to her and Jack. Then Jack disappears from school and the story everyone is told doesn't make sense.
What would Hazel do to save Jack? Is she willing to go through the danger to get back a Jack who may not even want to be her friend anymore? But its her Jack, so Hazel backs up her backpack and takes off through the woods on a quest to save Jack from the Snow Queen who is holding him in her icy world. But the beautiful, amazing things that happen to Hazel along the way are truly to be savored. Each story is touching and important as they teach Hazel more about herself, her family, and her friend. Especially charming and even heartbreaking is the story about a teenage boy who is taking care of his younger sister. And then there is a run-in with the poor little match girl. And a couple who seem like perfect parents.... I could go on and on.
Throughout the book, Hazel mentions her favorite adventures, such as the Harry Potter World or Alice in Wonderland. I can't help but think this story could almost hold its own right there with those tales. I certainly found young Hazel to be more compelling and endearing than Alice any old day. This is a girl who follows her heart but also uses her head. She is aware of when her actions hurt people, even if its moments after she has made a mistake.
I cried at the end of this book. Had tears dropping from my eyes. And I intend to shove this book at my 12 year old son and force him to read it. Then when he is done I will compose a list of other children I must introduce to this book. It is that good. It touched my heart and proved that there are certainly no ice shards in there. show less
The story is loosely based on the famous fairy tale "The Snow Queen". I have read a couple of books based on it lately but two show more years ago I had never even heard of it. In this story, Hazel is best friends with Jack. He did something for her one time that proved how strong he valued her friendship. Nothing could come between the two of them...until something does. Something changes in a day's span and Jack is suddenly mean to Hazel. Everyone tells her these things happen, friendships change as people grow. Maybe, thinks Hazel, but not to her and Jack. Then Jack disappears from school and the story everyone is told doesn't make sense.
What would Hazel do to save Jack? Is she willing to go through the danger to get back a Jack who may not even want to be her friend anymore? But its her Jack, so Hazel backs up her backpack and takes off through the woods on a quest to save Jack from the Snow Queen who is holding him in her icy world. But the beautiful, amazing things that happen to Hazel along the way are truly to be savored. Each story is touching and important as they teach Hazel more about herself, her family, and her friend. Especially charming and even heartbreaking is the story about a teenage boy who is taking care of his younger sister. And then there is a run-in with the poor little match girl. And a couple who seem like perfect parents.... I could go on and on.
Throughout the book, Hazel mentions her favorite adventures, such as the Harry Potter World or Alice in Wonderland. I can't help but think this story could almost hold its own right there with those tales. I certainly found young Hazel to be more compelling and endearing than Alice any old day. This is a girl who follows her heart but also uses her head. She is aware of when her actions hurt people, even if its moments after she has made a mistake.
I cried at the end of this book. Had tears dropping from my eyes. And I intend to shove this book at my 12 year old son and force him to read it. Then when he is done I will compose a list of other children I must introduce to this book. It is that good. It touched my heart and proved that there are certainly no ice shards in there. show less
Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. They had been best friends since they were six, spending hot Minneapolis summers and cold Minneapolis winters together, dreaming of Hogwarts and Oz, superheroes and baseball. Now that they were eleven, it was weird for a boy and a girl to be best friends. But they couldn't help it - Hazel and Jack fit, in that way you only read about in books. And they didn't fit anywhere else.
And then, one day, it was over. Jack just stopped talking to Hazel. And while her mom tried to tell her that this sometimes happens to boys and girls at this age, Hazel had read enough stories to know that it's never that simple. And it turns out, she was right. Jack's heart had been frozen, and he was taken into show more the woods by a woman dressed in white to live in a palace made of ice. Now, it's up to Hazel to venture into the woods after him. Hazel finds, however, that these woods are nothing like what she's read about, and the Jack that Hazel went in to save isn't the same Jack that will emerge. Or even the same Hazel. show less
And then, one day, it was over. Jack just stopped talking to Hazel. And while her mom tried to tell her that this sometimes happens to boys and girls at this age, Hazel had read enough stories to know that it's never that simple. And it turns out, she was right. Jack's heart had been frozen, and he was taken into show more the woods by a woman dressed in white to live in a palace made of ice. Now, it's up to Hazel to venture into the woods after him. Hazel finds, however, that these woods are nothing like what she's read about, and the Jack that Hazel went in to save isn't the same Jack that will emerge. Or even the same Hazel. show less
"In the woods where the woodsmen told lies, maybe it was the wolves who told the truth."
Eerie, literary, rich. Recommended. I listened to the audio a few years ago and felt that I was missing something, but it turns out that's a good way to read it at least for me, as I don't do audio much, and so there was the cachet of 'something special' associated with the experience. And of course I missed the pictures, which are nice but not critical (though it would have helped if I'd caught on more quickly that Hazel was of East Indian descent). In a way I missed almost nothing; in another way I missed almost everything. Brilliant book.
I could read it again. There's *so* much going on here beyond the plot. For example, why does Hazel think of show more herself as hollow, especially when she's meeting with the school counselor? Is she rescuing Jack for his sake, or for hers? Is she going to go back to school the same girl she was when she left, after this adventure? What *is* the point of plastic flowers? I'd love to discuss it with a group, or listen in as children discuss it.
And, perhaps just as importantly, has Ursu written anything else like it?
Another reread. I definitely get more out of this every time. I'm going to keep this paper copy I found in a LFL. Poetic, resonant, thoughtful.
"I believe that the world isn't always what we can see. I believe there are secrets in the woods. And I believe that goodness wins out."
Btw, Ursu's The Real Boy and The Lost Girl are also very much worth reading if, like me, you can't get enough of this kind of writing. show less
Eerie, literary, rich. Recommended. I listened to the audio a few years ago and felt that I was missing something, but it turns out that's a good way to read it at least for me, as I don't do audio much, and so there was the cachet of 'something special' associated with the experience. And of course I missed the pictures, which are nice but not critical (though it would have helped if I'd caught on more quickly that Hazel was of East Indian descent). In a way I missed almost nothing; in another way I missed almost everything. Brilliant book.
I could read it again. There's *so* much going on here beyond the plot. For example, why does Hazel think of show more herself as hollow, especially when she's meeting with the school counselor? Is she rescuing Jack for his sake, or for hers? Is she going to go back to school the same girl she was when she left, after this adventure? What *is* the point of plastic flowers? I'd love to discuss it with a group, or listen in as children discuss it.
And, perhaps just as importantly, has Ursu written anything else like it?
Another reread. I definitely get more out of this every time. I'm going to keep this paper copy I found in a LFL. Poetic, resonant, thoughtful.
"I believe that the world isn't always what we can see. I believe there are secrets in the woods. And I believe that goodness wins out."
Btw, Ursu's The Real Boy and The Lost Girl are also very much worth reading if, like me, you can't get enough of this kind of writing. show less
Hazel is having a difficult year. Her father has left their family, and now there is not enough money for Hazel to go to the private school where her creativity was valued and nurtured. Now, Hazel is in a different school, where there are many more rules and lines and tests and busywork and bullies, and all of a sudden she is not special and creative, she is a problem student, troubled and difficult. But at least Hazel has Jack, her best friend and next-door neighbor. Then, in the space of one day, Hazel's friendship with Jack changes. Suddenly he is mean to her, acting as if she doesn't exist, or worse, as if he sees her as just a pest and a bother. Everyone tells Hazel that these things happen as people grow up, but she can't accept show more it. Not in regards to her friendship with Jack. And then Jack disappears completely. One of his friends admits to Hazel that he saw Jack go into the forest with a mysterious woman in white, in a sleigh pulled by snow-white wolves -- a story completely at odds with Jack's parents' vague report that Jack went to visit a relative. When Hazel ventures into the woods herself, she finds that she is on a quest in a place that is somehow not just a patch of woods near the suburbs. The forest is populated by fairy tale creatures, woodsmen and wolves and all sorts of magic. And to the north there is a witch in a palace of ice -- but she only takes those who go with her willingly. Jack would never do that, Hazel argues . . . but how well does she know this new, cold-hearted Jack? Can she save him? Does Jack even want to be saved?
I'm a sucker for fairy tale retellings, and this one combines so many lovely stories, both the familiar and the less-familiar, that I couldn't help but adore it. The basic framework is The Snow Queen, of course, but there are lots of other elements of both Grimm and Andersen mixed in, and Hazel frequently references herr own favorite books, so there are glimmers of Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter and Narnia and even a nod to When You Reach Me, among many others. Hazel is a character who really touched my heart; her troubles at school mirrored some of my own experience, and I wish I could have read this book when I was Hazel's age. The writing is lovely, the pacing and plotting is excellent, and all in all, I think I can count this as one of my new favorites, a book I will return to again and again. show less
I'm a sucker for fairy tale retellings, and this one combines so many lovely stories, both the familiar and the less-familiar, that I couldn't help but adore it. The basic framework is The Snow Queen, of course, but there are lots of other elements of both Grimm and Andersen mixed in, and Hazel frequently references herr own favorite books, so there are glimmers of Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter and Narnia and even a nod to When You Reach Me, among many others. Hazel is a character who really touched my heart; her troubles at school mirrored some of my own experience, and I wish I could have read this book when I was Hazel's age. The writing is lovely, the pacing and plotting is excellent, and all in all, I think I can count this as one of my new favorites, a book I will return to again and again. show less
I remembered that I loved this book, but I didn't remember all the reasons why. I was a little surprised that it was a male narrator on the audiobook, but Kirby Heyborne did a very nice job with all the voices. I ached for Hazel, who is not only at a transitional age (5th grade), but dealing with her parents' divorce, her father's abandonment of her, a change in schools, and the mysterious and sudden change in her best friend, Jack. Despite her mother's well-meant theory that boy-girl friendships often change at this age, Hazel knows there's more going on - and once her idea is confirmed, there's no other choice but to go after Jack and save him from the White Witch, whether or not he wants to be saved.
Hazel is marvelously strong, and show more marginally prepared - with supplies such as energy bars and a change of clothes, but also with a solid knowledge of classic and contemporary fantasy and fairy tales. But the Woods don't always work the way they're supposed to, and it's hard to know who to trust. Nevertheless, Hazel succeeds in her journey - with readers cheering for her all the way. show less
Hazel is marvelously strong, and show more marginally prepared - with supplies such as energy bars and a change of clothes, but also with a solid knowledge of classic and contemporary fantasy and fairy tales. But the Woods don't always work the way they're supposed to, and it's hard to know who to trust. Nevertheless, Hazel succeeds in her journey - with readers cheering for her all the way. show less
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Favorite Fairy Tale Retellings
210 works; 62 members
Best books read in 2011
200 works; 51 members
Books Read in 2014
2,341 works; 86 members
KayStJ's to-read list
1,616 works; 11 members
Boy/girl trees/nature/water etc cover--children's/YA fiction
316 works; 5 members
Favorite Fairy Tales
269 works; 103 members
Author Information
15+ Works 4,740 Members
All Editions
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
Distinctions
Work Relationships
Was inspired by
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Breadcrumbs
- Original title
- Breadcrumbs
- Original publication date
- 2011
- People/Characters
- Hazel Anderson; Jack Campbell
- First words
- It snowed right before Jack stopped talking to Hazel, fluffy white flakes big enough to show their crystal architecture, like perfect geometric poems. It was the sort of snow that transforms the world around it into a differ... (show all)ent kind of place.
- Quotations
- Hazel could not help put stop and stare at it- this, the biggest tree in the world. There was a flickering within the leaves, birds that made their universe inside the mammouth cloud of branches. She wondered if they even kne... (show all)w about the sky. p.174
Jack hesitated still, and Hazel wanted to say something comforting, to give him some bright plastic flowers of words, but Jack would see them for what they were. Jack knew how to see things. p.310 - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)But at least it was a good story.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 1,392
- Popularity
- 16,885
- Reviews
- 81
- Rating
- (3.73)
- Languages
- English, French, German
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 15
- ASINs
- 2