Goblin Secrets

Will Alexander's debut novel fully deserves its National Book Award. At last - a children's book for actual children! Unlike some of the overly-adult offerings many "children's authors" have been publishing in recent years, this small gem honors its intended audience with enough adventure, thrills and fascinating encounters to engage them, without resorting to an overabundance of violence and death. With a subtle hand, it teaches lessons of humanity, without letting them take precedence over the storytelling. The reader is therefore free to focus on the journey of our young protagonist. Rownie experiences danger almost throughout. His doggedness, thoughtful choices, and tendency to follow his heart as well as his quick instinct, aid him through many perilous twists and turns. We are kept eager to know what happens next. The author writes in a spare, lean prose, that manages to create a complete, imaginative world by showing it to us, rather than allowing the story to stagnate in description. Magic is treated with dignity and delicacy, never pointed at, but experienced as a natural consequence of the world. I'm a teacher of the mask, and the authors' marvelous words about these entities resonated with me, especially the directive to "let the mask tell you how to move." Wonderful visual and aural elements, as well as characters that surprise us, populate a world so intricate and tangible, we can almost hear the whirring and clicking of the clock- and gear-work that permeates Rownie's environment. I expect Tim Burton will get a hold of the novel soon! At its core, this is a tale about a boy truly alone and looking for "home," as are too many children living on the fringe of society, or lost in its well-meaning but often inadequate systems of alternative care. It's about how loyalty is earned, and how familial bonds endure or are newly made. It asks us the true meaning of family. It invites us to discover what does and doesn't make a home.

In this day and age, with the book world as oversaturated as it is, finding a fantasy book that has magic, a hero’s quest, and a prophecy is almost commonplace – but that’s not what you’ll get in William Alexander’s Goblin Secrets. This book has familiar elements from all of those tropes but in Zombay, even with the threat of a prophesized flood, nothing is as it seems. The main character, Rownie, is a little boy who doesn’t even have his own name, and yet, he is plucky and tough. It is easy to see why this book received a National Book Award as William Alexander’s quality of writing, narrative style, and structure is easy to follow and his characters are both charming and brave. In the city of Zombay, Tamlin (the politically correct term for goblins) believe in hope and magic and prophecy, and need Rownie’s help to make it come to pass. They accept Rownie as one of their own and tell him to “Stand and move with purpose. Move the way the mask would prefer you move” (103) because what they do for Zombay is mysterious… something “ancient and grand” (101). ​This book, originally written for middle grade readers, is full of steampunk, action, and questing for them to enjoy. Rownie, an orphan running from the witch that is his caregiver, Graba, is looking for his missing brother throughout the town of Zombay. Rownie, while on the run from Graba, comes upon a band of goblins (Tamlin) whose home, despite their social status, is Zombay. Born and raised in Zombay, but changed – the term used for people who become goblins – are not seen as real citizens even in their hometown. In this, Alexander does something clever – he introduces social commentary into the novel without seeming to be on a soapbox. He does this in little ways, for instance he writes, “UnChanged folk do not touch Tamlin, as a rule. They seem to believe that it would give them freckles” (106). Without being political, Alexander introduces inequity and discrimination into a novel meant for preteens. The story is told from a 3rd person point of view which allows the reader to enter Rownie’s mind throughout the book. Alexander writes in the main character’s emotions and thoughts in a way that lends itself to its readership. Rownie “does not run” (60) from his problems – although he does run from the Guard – but instead, faces them as a hero who is on a quest must. Alexander’s style posits for strong truths and deeper meanings into the hero’s quest. Semele, the Tamlin who takes Rownie in, says, “We are always using masks and a lack of facts to find the truth and nudge it into becoming more true” (95). In a city full of liars, Rownie realizes that actors, who “pretend” because “It’s kind of [their] job” (95) are the only ones who can help him find his brother and save Zombay from the prophesized floods. into Rownie’s journey with simple, yet beautiful prose. It isn’t Graba or his brother who “gather beside Rownie” (219) throughout this journey through the flood and back, it’s the Tamlin. Alexander’s book, written in Acts and Scenes, like the drama it is, is a journey for the truth. Rownie, an orphan and a misfit, goes on a quest for his brother, but ends up finding out what he’s truly made of in the process.

This book is a National Book Award Finalist, and it's got people talking. I'm always a bit dubious about that sort of thing. However, Goblin Secrets lives up to the hype--it's beautifully told and has some wonderful world building, not to mention a nicely melodic theme of masks. Goblin Secrets is that rare creature, a steampunk novel for middle grade. Alexander's genius is that he simply wraps the steampunk elements into the story, melding them so fluidly (or so clockworkedly) into the world he creates, which also has fantasy elements, that the whole thing feels complete and of a piece. So: Rownie is one of the children who lives with and serves a version of Baba Yaga--if the witch and her house had clockwork legs and chicken feet, respectively. In a city where the king won't let anyone wear a mask and act in plays except maybe a troupe of goblins, Rownie's older brother Rowan has gone missing. And he's an actor. Rownie runs away from the witch Graba and joins the goblins, searching for his brother. Everything just gets more complicated from there, with plenty of magic, plotting, and a river threatening to flood. I liked Rownie, and I liked this book. Alexander's characters with their masks and secrets roam the fresh fantasy world he's created like actors on a stage: the author has even titled the sections of his story Act I, Act II, etc. That stage is definitely one of Alexander's strengths. The use of the clock tower and a train station are especially good. I highly and happily recommend Goblin Secrets.

i was amazed that this book won the National Book Award; it's inventive and well written but not the extraordinary read I was hoping for.

I have just read this book to my daughter. I asked her what I should say in the review: 'It was brilliant' was her instant response. We had just one problem with it - we'd have liked it to be longer. Better still would be more stories by the same writer. His output seems to consist mainly of short stories, which we will investigate. With a large font size, the book stretches to 220 pages but seems almost a novella. Both my daughter and I would happily have read it in one sitting, though we stretched it over several days. In style and subject matter it reminded us of Frances Hardinge's Fly By Night , which is also a superb work. Goblin Secrets is set in a fantasy city, could have been a long time ago, though it features trains. The story has layers, depths of meaning that could appeal to grown ups as well as children. Its dust jacket classifies it as age 8-12, but it could appeal to older readers too, and is not illustrated. It is evocative enough to need no illustration. I think it will linger in our memories for a long time. I found out about it by an enthusiastic reader's reference to it on Amazon: I'm grateful for that, and hope lots of other UK readers will come to know and enjoy it. I hope too that William Alexander will write more for us to enjoy.

I discovered this author by sheer chance, I read his review of the new book and was so captivated by his use of langauge, I wanted to read more. I was not disappointed, although this book was written for children, adults will get a great joy from reading it, William Alexander paints such great pictures with words, my only disappointment was that the book was not three times longer, I never wanted it to end.