THE LOST GIRL by Anne Ursu – Blog Tour (with a giveaway!)

What do you call a group of girls?

A giggle?
A gossip?
What about …

a force.

I was so excited to be asked to be part of the blog tour for the new Anne Ursu book The Lost Girl (which comes out this Tuesday, February 12th) I mean first of all, it’s a new Anne Ursu book AT LAST. But more than that, I read The Lost Girl in one long, delirious sitting, completely enthralled and swept away by it. I was expecting a lot from this book and it more than delivered. I am so happy to be hyping this book – a book that pushes boundaries, that takes readers on a real AND magical journey, that asks big questions about magic and friendship and girlhood. It is absolutely gonna be one of my favorite books of 2019 and I can’t wait for kids to fall in love with it. So yes! I am definitely glad to be part of this blog tour. AND Walden Pond is kindly going to give away a copy to one lucky person. (USA only)

The Lost Girl is about twin sisters Iris and Lark who are facing fifth grade being put in different classrooms for the very first time. And Iris and Lark are not sure who they are without each other. As fifth grade looms, odd things begin to happen around their town and in their lives as the girls are pushed into unexpected and untested waters that force them to reconsider who they are and who they can be.

One of the things I love the most about this book is how it takes bits and pieces of familiar situations – the twins facing their first time separated, the woes of fitting into a new classroom, the awkwardness at trying to make a new social group outside of school, the dawning awareness your parents might actually think they know better than you do – and wraps them up in the way the world can sometimes seem magical when you least expect it. Maybe it’s birds or weird thrift stores or or remembering what it means to be sisters or finding friends in places you didn’t think you’d ever fit in. Maybe those things can be magic. Maybe that’s what magic is.

Author Anne Ursu

But the thing I love the absolute most about The Lost Girl – the thing I think is so important and earth-shaking is how much it cares about girls and their power. All my life I have been surrounded and uplifted and supported by groups of women and girls. I have always had women and girls cheering me on and cheering for me. I have been close friends with two women for thirty years, I’ve vacationed with another group of women for a decade.

And yet.

And yet so often our society tells girls, especially girls in middle and high school, that they need to be enemies to each other. That, in fact, it’s natural if they don’t get along or inevitable that they’ll stab each other in the back or they WILL be envious of each other and competitive towards one another.

As we reject the detestable phrase “boys will be boys” we should also set aside the corollary: “well, you know how girls are.”

First: the gender binary is an arbitrary social construct, it is garbage and should be smashed. There are more than just two genders and no “right” way to perform gender.

And there is ABSOLUTELY nothing true about the idea that girls need be natural enemies. And guess what? The Lost Girl knows that. Rarely have I read a middle grade book that is so full of ebullient, overwhelming power at the bonds of friendship between girls. “You can have this,” Anne Ursu says with this book. “You can have a squad, a flock, a crew, a pod, a TEAM. And there’s no reason to believe you must sabotage each other or work against each other. You are more than that lie.” The Lost Girl says to readers: together, we can be a force. And that’s a message so many of our kids deserve to hear.

The Lost Girl is something rare and special. It is enchanting and empowering – my favorite of all combinations. It’s a love letter to finding the people who will stick up for you and come for you and care about you, even when you barf in front of your entire class, even when you’re so awkward you think you’re made up only of edges and too sharp for everyone around you. I want to give this book to every kid I know, especially the ones who are searching for magic and searching for themselves, even if they can’t quite put that into words. I think you’ll want to share it with your students and your patrons too because there’s so much to talk about (did I mention it also has a delightfully creepy villain, a mysterious shop of wonders, plenty of plot twists that keep you turning pages, and crows with secrets that deliver shiny gifts?) and so much to love in this book. It is, of course, recommended as a first purchase for libraries and classrooms.

And if you want to a chance to win your very own copy, leave a comment (including a way to contact you) on this post by 2/17 for a chance to win a copy of The Lost Girl or request a copy from your local library or purchase one at your local indie bookstore! And please stop by all the other blogs/posts on this tour:

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1: Teach Mentor Texts
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 2: About to Mock
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 3: Novel Novice
MONDAY FEBRUARY 4: Maria’s Melange
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 5: A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 6: Bluestocking Thinking
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 7: Kirsticall.com
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 8: Unleashing Readers
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 9: Book Monsters
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 10: here!
MONDAY FEBRUARY 11: Word Spelunker
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 12: Nerdy Book Club