Liesl & Po

One night, shortly after the death of her beloved father, Liesl (a Cinderella-like young girl confined to an attic bedroom by a cruel stepmother) is visited by Po, a ghost. Drawn to her sad sweetness and her artistic talent, Po and his ghostly animal companion Bundle are soon caught up in a plan to help Liesl escape the attic and take the ashes of her dead father to the country home where Liesl's mother is buried. Po is not the only one who has been drawn to Leisl's sweetness: Will, an apothecary's apprentice, has noticed her face at the attic window and dreamed of meeting her. When their paths cross on the way out of the city, the three children (two corporeal, one ghostly) find themselves caught up in a larger adventure than they ever show more expected.

I thought the writing was strong in this story, but the plot was weak. There are too many coincidences, and too many people who behave in unbelievable ways in order to ensure they are in the right place at the right time, plot-wise (for instance, there is an old woman on a train who apparently decides that Liesl is a menace to society because Liesl appears to be talking to herself, and so the old woman manages to convince a police officer to accompany her in a cross-country chase to catch the girl. It's necessary to the plot that the police officer be at the denouement, but it doesn't make sense to me that he would allow himself to be caught up in the chase for a child who has not broken any laws). I can see how some children might enjoy this story (it has courageous children and evil grown-ups and lots of adventure and danger), but mature fantasy readers will probably find that there are just too many plot holes to fall into.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Jim Dale, who has just the right sort of voice for this type of story. While I don't much care for his interpretation of the Harry Potter books, I thought he did well by this one. show less

Liesl is newly orphaned, locked in an attic by the stepmother who poisoned Liesl's father to death. Will is an abused alchemist's apprentice who loves to look up at Liesl's attic window on his exhausting nightly errands. One night, Will accidentally switches two wooden boxes - one contains Liesl's father's ashes, and one contains the most powerful magic in the world - and the story is truly set in motion. With the help of the ghost Po (and ghostly dog/cat Bundle), Liesl escapes the attic, stealing the box she thinks contains her father's ashes, and heads for the train station, back to the house she used to live in, to bury him. Will is also headed for the train station, after the Lady Premier's fury at the alchemist is turned on him for show more the mistake with the boxes. After several almost-meetings, Liesl and Will find themselves stowing away on a cart, pursued by the enraged Lady Premier and the alchemist; murderous stepmother Augusta; a simple, kind guard called Mo who feels that Will should have a hat; and an interfering old lady and a policeman from the train.

A journey, an adventure, a few near-death experiences, close calls, and one quick trip to The Other Side, and all is right in the end: the good-hearted, kind people are rewarded, and the vicious ones get their comeuppance.

Jim Dale (Harry Potter; The Night Circus) narrates this audiobook, which I'm sure adds an extra dimension of magic to it, but it has plenty of magic of its own; I couldn't help being reminded, over and over, of Lyra and Will from His Dark Materials.

Quotes

That was the world they lived in: When people were afraid, they did not always do what they knew was right.

This is the strangest thing about the world: how it looks so different from every point of view.

[The magic] was hanging like a curtain just beyond the visible world. show less

I would have really enjoyed this book, if not for two significant flaws that took away from my pleasure and threw me out of the story to consider the author and her prejudices.

The first is the overdone and outdated trope of the evil ugly woman. When a character who I'm supposed to dislike is described as ugly and fat, it makes me more sympathetic to her, no matter how evil her actions are. And it makes me less sympathetic to the heroine of the story, who is our lens on this character whose "ugly" looks are supposed to be some kind of mirror on her personality. But really, I judge the author, whose own personal prejudice shines through in an ugly way in this kind of lazy and sexist characterization. This is particularly troubling in a show more book for children.

The second is a spoiler. I was so disappointed when at the end of the book, the author feels the need to let us know that Po was "really" a boy all along, and Bundle was "really" a dog. The gender and species ambiguity was one of the best things about the novel, and then she destroyed it. show less

I understand why this book was so well liked. A host of interesting characters, some evil, some helpfully good, a lonely young girl who grieves her father while she is alone in the attic where her nasty stepmother placed her. Then, she notices a shadow and next to that shadow is a cat or a dog figure accompanying the ghost with the name of Po.

Pleading with Po to help her communicate with her father, Po agrees to try. Enter a nasty alchemist who also holds a young person hostage. Will happens to watch Liesel from her lonely attic window. He wonders is she might like him and find something special about him. Verbally, emotionally abused by adults, both Will and Leisel find a way to escape.

Then, another near do well grown up known as "the show more lady premier," wants something that the alchemist had, but the magical box was lost by Oliver.

A lot of characters, and a lot of action might lend for a confusing story, but the author is excellent with character development while rendering the story magical and mystical.

This is an excellent YA book that appeals to young and older alike.

Four Stars. show less

I wanted to love this book, and as a child I'm pretty sure I would have loved this book, but as a cynical adult I only liked it. I liked the fairy tale, magical feeling of the book. I liked the writing. I disliked that the adults in the story were all so evil, with the exception of Mo who was really just an adult child. Couldn't we have had SOME adults that were not pure evil? I found it distracting to have Po always referred to as "it". I understand the reason behind it, but it kind of threw me every time. I loved the illustrations in the book, they were beautiful and mystical and magical. However, I think my favorite thing about Liesl & Po was the author's note at the end. Particularly this paragraph:

"... Liesl & Po is the embodiment show more of what writing has always been for me at its purest and most basic - not a paycheck, certainly; not an idea, even; and not an escape. Actually, it is the opposite of an escape; it is a way back in , a way to enter and make sense of a world that occasionally seems harsh and terrible and mystifying."

I'm glad I have this book in my library and I hope many of my students read it. I'm sure they will love it. show less

Summary: Liesl is a recent orphan, kept locked in an attic room by her stepmother ever since the death of her father. But one day she discovers she's not alone up there; a ghost named Po appears, attracted to Liesl from the Other Side by her drawings. Unbeknownst to her, Liesl also has another admirer: Will, another orphan and assistant to the alchemist, has seen her through her attic window and longs to meet her. When there's a mix-up involving one of Will's deliveries, a box containing the most powerful magic in the world, and the box containing the ashes of Liesl's father, suddenly both children find themselves on the run... but what can two orphans and one ghost do on their own in a large, unfriendly world?

Review: Liesl & Po is an show more odd little book, but odd in the best possible way. Primarily, it's got a plot and a central theme that I don't think I've ever come across in mid-grade fiction before, and only very rarely in fiction in general. It's certainly very different from Delirium, the other of Oliver's books that I've read, not only in story but also in tone. It's got the plucky orphans that are seemingly ubiquitous in children's fiction, but unlike most other books geared towards this age level, it deals with the death of a parent pretty directly, and takes on the question of the afterlife. I really appreciated the way that it Oliver handles such a potentially troublesome topic; the tone of the story is sensitive to the magnitude of such a loss, while remaining level-headed and avoiding melodrama, and (most importantly) not talking down to its audience.

I did find the worldbuilding to be a little strange. Primarily, I had a hard time getting a handle on when and where the story was taking place. Was it an alternate Britain? America? Some fictional country? What approximate era? Some textual clues seemed to point in one direction, some in another, and while it's not critical to understanding or enjoying the story, it did make me feel occasionally off-balance. (There may be more clues - or even a map - in the printed version; I listened to the audio, which was read flawlessly by Jim Dale.) There were also some details of the world that wound up being very important to the story but weren't revealed until fairly late in the game. I can understand not wanting to do a big worldbuilding infodump right at the beginning, but the way it was handled had a slight feeling of afterthought to me, like "Oh, by the way, they've been eating nothing but potatoes this whole time." But in general, I found the setting of the story less important than the interesting characters and subtly sweet, sad, and unique plot, and overall the book was definitely an enjoyable read. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: I think kids (and adults) who liked Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events will find Liesl & Po to have a similar sensibility and sense of humor. More generally, it should appeal to readers of all ages who are looking for a non-traditional fantasy/ghost story. show less

Oh Lauren Oliver. Girl...you genius you.

I felt like someone was sitting in front of me, telling me this magical story. A story that made me feel like a hopeful child again. A story that filled me with wonder and reminded me of all the fairy tales I know and love. It's a story I want to share with Boy, even if he might not be old enough for it.

There were a lot of important characters in this book, and I pretty much wanted to hug all of them. Except the bad guys. I wanted to shoo them away for being mean to all the wonderful characters. How dare they corrupt the dear hearts!

The writing was fabulous, though it shouldn't even need to be said. It was like reading a piece of Lauren's soul. Beautiful and magic and transported me to a time when show more I was a kid again.

The story had a lot of different perspectives, which I know some don't like, but they all blended together to make one story out of several stories and they all met together at the end and it was so freaking genius. Just...so freaking genius.

Go buy the book. Like now. Drop everything (unless you're holding a baby, don't drop the baby) and go get it. show less