Title:  Breadcrumbs [Indie Bound] [Amazon]
Author: Anne Ursu [website] [twitter] [facebook]
Genre:  Fantasy
Publisher: Walden Pond Press
Series: None
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Parental Advisory: none
Teachable Moments: perseverance, self-esteem, acceptance, friendship, loyalty

“Hazel stepped into the woods gingerly, expecting to land in a thick cushion of snow.  So she stumbled when her foot when all the way to solid ground.  It was not winter in the woods — at least in these woods.”

Summary (from the publisher):
Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friend.  But that was before he stopped talking to her and disappeared into a forest with a mysterious woman made of ice.  Now it’s up to Hazel to go in after him.

Opinion:
Breadcrumbs is one of the best middle-grade reads I’ve ever had the opportunity to enjoy.  Well plotted to be sure, why I loved it most rests squarely on the shoulders of it’s fantastically drawn heroine Hazel.  She is a fantastic role model for endurance, friendship, loyalty and a host of other fine qualities.

Let me tell you a bit about the plot first.  I’ll start by saying that there was quite a bit going on and I personally would have liked deeper exploration of a few of the points (the abandonment by Hazel’s father, Jack’s mother’s depression) but I recognize that this is the adult reader in me talking and for a middle-grader these points aren’t going to be of focus.  They were, in fact, being used as the catalyst to demonstrate the depth of Hazel and Jack’s friendship and the lengths to which they would go to maintain that. So in this case, these feelings of mine are easily bypassed.  Moreover, the relationship between the two and Hazel’s sheer awesomeness shines through over everything anyway.

So, basically it’s like this.  Hazel and Jack are lifelong friends.  They’ve endured any number of family tragedies and given each other love and support through it.  They have common interests (art, magic, superheroes, etc) that further bind them.  But then, as they grow older and it becomes less socially acceptable amongst their peers for a boy and a girl to be best friends there is a bit of distance built between them.  Despite the pressure from their schoolmates Jack does a good job of towing the line between being Hazel’s friend and spending time with his new posse of boys.  That is until one day he is transformed from a friend who cares about her to one of the guys who mocks and ridicules her.

Then, not long after Jack’s transformation he goes missing.  Well, at least Hazel think’s he’s missing anyway.  Not very many others are of that idea except one other friend that saw Jack go into the woods with a strange woman.  So starts the use of magic (which was a wonderful enhancement) elements in Breadcrumbs.  This focus was not overpowering in the least and it’s use was placed within the story primarily to demonstrate Hazel’s growth as an individual and the dedication she has to her friendship with Jack.  It was so wonderfully imaginative in how it showed the different fears Hazel had (abandonment, loneliness) for herself in the real world while teaching and empowering her to accept and overcome them.  She was most definitely a stronger person coming out of the magical woods than she was going in.

As I mentioned before I found Hazel to be a fantastic heroine.  Heartbreakingly lonely she suffers the isolation and loneliness of being a child of divorce and as such being transferred from one school to another. Realistically portrayed she naturally latches on to the one friend she has (Jack) in school but finds it difficult to handle his growing distance.  Despite that difficulty she bears it like a champ by avoiding the pitfalls of being territorial or overbearing.  She does her best to appreciate the time she has with her friend while still accepting and even doing her best to foster his other relationships.  In this way I thought she was quite the adult.  Handling it much better than most girls her age would.  What I loved most about Hazel, though, were her caring and fearlessness.  So few children put others before themselves and Hazel cared for Jack so much, believed in him so much, that she was willing to put herself at risk to save him and their friendship.  Of course, this does ultimately benefit her as she also learns much about herself as part of the journey in the woods to save him.

**potential spoilerificness below**

I admit, I often wondered as I was reading Breadcrumbs if I was going to find out that everything happening to Hazel was all in her head.  Referenced as being extremely imaginative that definition paired with some of the larger scale problems she was facing with her peers and parents had me wondering if she was suffering from some sort of mental illness.  This angle definitely would have worked too if Ursu had chosen to go down that path.  I’m glad she didn’t though as, again, I think that is more appealing to the adult than the age-appropriate reader.

**end spoilerificness**

As you can see I so enjoyed Breadcrumbs and would encourage you all to add it to your classroom, library or collection. It’s filled with imagination, great characters and a wonderful story of friendship that is destined to stand the test of time.