Fortune's Magic Farm

by Suzanne Selfors

Overview

Discover a place where magic grows!

Isabelle lives in Runny Cove, a town where it never stops raining. There, she spends every day working her fingers to the bone at Mr. Supreme's Umbrella Factory so she'll have enough money to feed herself and her Grandma Maxine. But Isabelle, who was found on a doorstep when she was just a baby, dreams of escaping Runny Cove and finding out where she came from.


When she discovers that she is the heir of Fortune's Farm, the last place on earth where magic grows, she jumps at the chance to meet her long-lost family and learn more about where she comes from. But when Isabelle feels the call to return to Runny Cove and use the magic of Fortune's Farm to stop the rain, her loyalty is put to the test and Isabelle must choose between her blood kin and the family of friends she left behind.

From the author of To Catch a Mermaid comes a magical journey about loyalty, family, and the magic within.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316040952
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	03/01/2009
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	680L (what's this?)
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Suzanne Selfors is a national best-selling author who writes for kids of all ages. She’s received four Junior Library Guild awards, appeared on a dozen state lists, and earned starred reviews from Kirkus, School Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly. The Sasquatch Escape won the Washington State Book Award for Middle Readers and was one of Amazon’s Best Children’s Books of 2013. Her middle grade books include Wish Upon a Sleepover and Fortune’s Magic Farm. She lives on a northerly island where rain falls like music, which is why she gets so much writing done.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 4-6

Ten-year-old Isabelle, who was found on a doorstep when she was a baby and adopted by an elderly woman, lives in a dreadful boardinghouse in a town in which it never stops raining. She works long hours at Mr. Supreme's Umbrella Factory labeling boxes to support herself and her ailing grandmother. One day she is told that Grandma has passed away, and she decides to escape from Runny Cove. Upon running away, she meets Sage, a 12-year-old boy who tells her that she is not an orphan, but rather a tender, a member of the family who lives in hiding in the last place on Earth where magic grows. Sage takes her on a journey across the ocean to Fortune's Farm. Isabelle finds her new home to be a sunny place filled with fruit trees and magical seeds that immediately change her pale, prunelike appearance into a healthy body. Isabelle is faced with some tough obstacles and challenges to her loyalty but ultimately she wins her grandfather's approval and is able to bring about change in Runny Cove. The story gets off to a slow start, but upon arrival at Fortune's Farm, the descriptions of this magical land make it worthwhile. Readers will cheer for Isabelle throughout the story and despise Mr. Supreme and Mama Lu, the despicable owner of the boardinghouse.-Sarah Polace, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Parma, OH

School Library Journal

Abandoned as an infant, ten-year-old Isabelle lives in Runny Cove, a dreary town where everything is the color of sludge, residents suffer a perpetual cold and nothing grows there except the mushrooms between Isabelle's toes and the lichen in her hair. One evening Isabelle is given an apple by a friendly sea monster. This out-of-the-ordinary gift triggers a series of fantastical happenings that takes Isabelle far from Runny Cove, to her real family, who run Fortune's Magic Farm, the place where ingredients used in magic spells and potions are grown. Guided by her Great-Uncle Walnut, Isabelle learns she's the last tender. "Tenders are special"-they grow things. Tension builds slowly as Isabelle's family secrets come to light. Soon Isabelle confronts a momentous decision: whether to save Fortune's Farm or her friends in Runny Cove. Interspersed throughout this droll, plot-driven story are Isabelle's comical songs and Chien's spot illustrations. Despite a few threads left unresolved, newly confident readers will cozy up to the tale's quirky characters and enjoy the many twists and turns of this magical adventure. (illustrations not seen) (Fantasy. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews

"Few authors have ever come close to being compared to Dahl, and nobody has his distinctive flavor. One of the very few authors to do so would have to be Suzanne Selfors. . . A pure pleasure to read.” —School Library Journal

"A love apple for all readers, delicious and magical.” —Grace Lin, Newbery Honor author of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

"This quirky book. . .is full of silly songs and vivid secondary characters.” —The Seattle Times, Recommended Summer Read

“The beautiful writing, quirky characters, and an imaginative plot that slowly unfolds make this a good choice, showing how one little girl can use her spirit to save the world.” —Booklist

“Placing an indomitable character in situations as bleak as they are absurd, Selfors has written a darkly comic adventure in the tradition of Roald Dahl.” —Junior Library Guild

“Readers will cozy up to the tale’s quirky characters and enjoy the many twists and turns of this magical adventure.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

"The beautiful writing, quirky characters, and an imaginative plot that slowly unfolds make this a good choice, showing how one little girl can use her spirit to save the world."

Booklist