(1) 4-6 Robber Girl only remembers the life she's lived with outlaw Gentleman Jack, who rescued her when she was abandoned at age four. Or so he says. Now she's eleven, a "wild" britches-wearing girl with a coarse voice that doesn't work properly and a constant dialogue with her beloved dagger running through her mind. Then, in a failed robbery, Gentleman Jack lands in jail, and she's taken to live with the very judge who caught him. Robber Girl now becomes Starling, surprised by but adapting to the "tame" ways of affection, respect, comfort, and domestic order that she finds with the judge and his wife. Always, though, she remains compelled to free Gentleman Jack; when she does, she finds not just herself but also her past. This novel fairly glitters with the intelligent intricacy of its plot, language, and themes, all of which are intimately joined, refracted, and intensified through Billingsley's imagery--the dagger, a dollhouse, a songbird. Starling's narrative voice is direct yet full of wonder; the depth of her confusion and pain (as we ultimately realize) revealed with gentleness and compassion. Bringing together elements of magic, religion, and the Wild West frontier, Billingsley's (The Folk Keeper, rev. 11/99; Chime, rev. 3/11) story allows Starling, hidden even from her own self, to speak her perceptions, the lucidity of her inner life, with startling, poetic force.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2021

(1) YA Narrator Briony, a self-proclaimed witch, believes that her own childish jealousy led to her twin sister's brain damage. When Eldric comes to board at the family parsonage, his "busy London blood pumping just inches away," she begins to dig up suppressed memories. Billingsley's complex and tightly woven plot involves mystery, murder, romance, and ancient lore; her setting is earthy, visceral, and alive.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2011

(2) PS Illustrated by G. Brian Karas. When Baby Boo-Boo goes missing, Mama Mouse rushes into the woods--where Big Bad Bunny lurks. Karas's angry cottontail, rendered in gouache, acrylics, and pencil, is a formidable presence (though observers will note the pink-polka-dot pajamas). Big Bad Bunny (Baby Boo-Boo in costume) doesn't want to be babied, a point sensitively acknowledged by Mama in this creative look at preschooler independence.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2008

(2) 4-6 Corinna has disguised herself as a boy so that she can be a Folk Keeper--one who protects a household from wrathful spirits. Drenched in imagery of the sea, the story draws on selkie lore, and Corinna's true identity--a secret far greater than just her boyish disguise--is eventually revealed. Steeped in atmosphere, the novel contains an intricate plot, vibrant characters, and dangerous intrigue.

Reviewer: Anne St. John | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 1999