The Great Good Thing (Sylvie Cycle #1) Roderick Townley. 2001? reprinted 2025. 224 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, mg fiction, books about books]
First sentence: Sylvie had an amazing life, but she didn't get to live it very often. What good were potions and disguises if no one came along to scare you or save you or kiss you behind the waterfall? Week after week nothing changed. Years went by. The sparkles on Sylvie's dress began to fade, and a fine dust coated the leaves, turning the green woods gray. Once in a while, it looked as though something might happen.
The Great Good Thing is a book about books, or perhaps the self-awareness of fictional characters OF their human readers. This is a book about lasting impressions and dreams. It's an odd little book that doesn't necessarily fit many molds. It does celebrates stories and storytelling and LEGACIES of stories.
Sylvie, the main character, is a fictional book character that--for better or worse, mostly for better--has a special relationship with a family of readers--a grandmother/granddaughter. She is able to "crossover" from the fictional world--the literal pages of her book--into the readers' dream world. When her book suffers a horrible fate--a fire--she is able to help the other characters transition into her readers' dream world where they exist--barely, minimally--for decades.
The book is more abstract and philosophical than young readers may appreciate? In other words, this might 'touch' adults more than children. Though if it's read aloud by an adult who absolutely loves the story, I wouldn't be surprised if young readers catch the enthusiasm and love it as well. I just don't personally see it as a book that kids will discover on their own and absolutely fall in love with. It would need some hand-selling or "blessing."
The book has a heaviness to it which I think might vary from reader to reader to reader. It has a lot of things--directly and indirectly--to say about death.
© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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