A Path Begins (The Thickety, #1)

A Path Begins
The Thickey, #1
by J.A. White

From the publisher:
"The Thickety: A Path Begins is a spellbinding tale about a girl, the Thickety, and the power of magic. Fans of Neil Gaiman will love this thrilling new world.

When Kara Westfall was five years old, her mother was convicted of the worst of all crimes: witchcraft. Years later, Kara and her little brother, Taff, are still shunned by the people of their village, who believe that nothing is more evil than magic…except, perhaps, the mysterious forest that covers nearly the entire island. It has many names, this place. Sometimes it is called the Dark Wood, or Sordyr's Realm. But mostly it's called the Thickety.

The villagers live in fear of the Thickety and the terrible creatures that live there. But when an unusual bird lures Kara into the forbidden forest, she discovers a strange book with unspeakable powers. A book that might have belonged to her mother.

And that is just the beginning of the story."

This book was way too dark for me. It was thrilling, exciting, and definitely held your interest, but yikes, there was a lot of dark stuff going on. For instance - kidnapping, horrible beasts that do horrible things to people, a mother being killed in front of her 5 year old, intense bullying, lack of good adults, dark witchcraft, a terrifying forest, people being brought back to life and then killed again, addiction to dark magic..... I could go on and on. Early on, I chose not to get this for the Blevins Library, but I had several kids tell me it was an awesome series, so I purchased the whole set. One of my students told me that the first book was the darkest of the 4, so I'm hoping things improve in the other books. I won't be reading them. I you have sensitive kids, have them steer clear of this book. 

Areas of concern:
*See above - massive violence and disturbing, morbid things going on. 
Publisher's Weekly - Ages 8-12  (Wow, I very much disagree!)
School Library Journal - Grades 5-8

Suggested Ages: