From Publishers Weekly
Nick Hartley is having a hard time. He is the class bully's target of abuse; he has a crush on the older sister of a friend, a girl he compares to the elusive beggar maid in a famous pre-Raphaelite painting; and he's smart enough to know that the world around him isn't always what it seems. Nick's perceptions change when he comes across a ne'er-do-well magician who tells him, "Winners get what they want and losers get what they deserve." The magician sizes Nick up and sells him a "juzzle," a gyroscope plus jigsaw puzzle that, when used in tandem, bring Nick into a surreal world called The Trokeville Way. There, everything is more than a bit off-kilter, beginning with the language: a bridge is a "brudge"; a forest is a "little would." More urgently, the people who loom largest to Nick-his parents, the bully, the older girl-have been blown off course, too. While they seem sturdy enough in the ordinary world, in Trokeville they wander in an almost dreamlike state, easily trapped by obstacles (i.e., not sure how to maintain their chosen direction in life). A new book by Hoban (The Mouse and His Child; The Marzipan Pig) will be welcomed by many, but the philosophical asides and existential regrets may be frustrating for young readers, who will find them digressive and incomprehensible in some cases. An overly neat ending and a general lack of plot and character development also prove disappointing. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 7-10-Puberty-bound Nick Hartley is preoccupied with getting beat up again by a foul-smelling bully. When Nick's head is knocked against the wall in their latest bout, the line between reality and fantasy is temporarily erased. In his "enhanced" state, which is full of brighter colors and sharper details, the boy buys a watercolor that has been cut up into a jigsaw puzzle from a down-and-out ex-illusionist. Moe Nagic, who calls the work of art The Trokeville Way, tells Nick a sad tale of a lost love, a story inextricably linked to the painting. Hoban mixes poetry, art, and music in Nick's dreamy descent into the picture that will ostensibly lead him to his own private Trokeville. Weird wordplay adds to Nick's disorientation as he deals with the brudge ("bridge with a grudge"), juzzle, mise, troke ("part trick, part stroke"), etc. To this conundrum Hoban adds an unsettling twist: the other players remember their role in Nick's dreams. Trokeville offers a window into the jumble of emotions in an intellectual adolescent's tumultuous mind, one that appreciates ineffable beauty and fears the humiliation of defeat. This is a literary fantasy of mettle and romance containing all the chivalric elements of justice, strength, deference to beauty, and self-actualization. A challenging and offbeat treat for those students willing to make the effort to follow Nick's tortuous trip, it requires a leap of faith and a strong curiosity, as well as an appreciation for the prescient, nagging advice from one's inner voices.
John Sigwald, Unger Memorial Library, Plainview, TXCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
