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Title: Journey's End

Author: Rachel Hawkins

Narrator: Saskia Maarleveld

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-25-16

Publisher: Listening Library

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Kids, Ages 8-10

Publisher's Summary:

New York Times best-selling author Rachel Hawkins brings us a riveting middle grade fantasy-adventure perfect for fans of Lisa Graff.

The town of Journey's End may not literally be at the end of the world, but it sure feels like it to Nolie Stanhope. Spending the summer with her scientist father in the tiny Scottish village isn't exactly Nolie's idea of a good time, but she soon finds a friend: native Journey's Ender Bel McKissick.

While Nolie's father came to Journey's End to study the Boundary - a mysterious fog bank offshore - Bel's family can't afford to consider it a threat. The McKissicks' livelihood depends on the tourists drawn by legends of a curse. Still, whether you believe in magic or science, going into the Boundary means you'll never come back.

Unless you do. Albert Etheridge, a boy who disappeared into the Boundary in 1914, suddenly returns - without having aged a day and with no memory of the past 100 years. Then the Boundary starts creeping closer to the town, threatening to consume everyone within.

While Nolie's father wants to have the village evacuated, Bel's parents lead the charge to stay in Journey's End. Meanwhile, Albert and the girls look for ways to stop the encroaching boundary, coming across an ancient Scottish spell that requires magic, a quest, and a sacrifice.

Members Reviews:

A Good End

Wow! A typical summer vacation becomes a magical quest in this wonderful middle grades adventure. Nolie travels from Georgia to visit her father, who is studying and odd phenomenon in Scotland. She thinks it will jut be a chance for the two of them to reconnect after 6 months apart. Instead, she finds herself drawn into helping save the entire town from a curse hundreds of years old, while making some new friends along the way.

Living close to Dollywood and the madness that is the tourist season here in East Tennessee, I suppose I can relate a little to the townsfolk and their reliance on the tourists who come to see the "Boundary." But that commonality can only stretch so far, since we don't have a cursed fog that swallows up boats, people, and even pieces of the town. Nolie's fascination with ghosts and the supernatural is like that of many other who enjoy watching TV shows about paranormal investigators. It seems odd in comparison to her father's focus on science, but at least they are interested in the same thing, even if it is manifested in different ways.

This might have just remained a story of scientific vs. magical world views, except that the author also includes some very real descriptions of what friendship is like during late preteen and early teenage years. Nolie's new friend, Bel, has experienced the loss of her best friend to the new girl at school and has been dreading her summer alone. And both girls meet Albert and have to deal with the awkwardness of boys and girls being friends at that age when everyone seems so aware of gender differences. There is also the tension of parents and children not agreeing on the best way to solve a problem.

The characters are entertaining and at times tug on your heartstrings as you read.