School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-Emma Casey, her brother Topher, and their Granny Blue call the Boneyard Café home. On weekends, Emma conducts tours of the haunted graveyard next door, while Topher warms visitors with his irresistible peach-lavender muffins and famous Boneyard Brew (aka hot chocolate). When their cozy haven is threatened by a greedy developer, Emma channels her late mother's promise that the women in their family are destined to be extraordinary. Since the late 1700s, the so-called Wildflowers have each had a "destiny dream" in a field of blue flowers to point the way to becoming a spy, teacher, trapeze artist, inventor, firefighter, or another exceptional path-all of which were recorded in the Book of Days. Armed with two friends-one old, the other brand-new-a flowery legacy, and a healthy dose of magic, Emma has quite the extraordinary undertaking ahead to save her family's future. VERDICT Kate Simses adds the perfect blend of sass and wonder to Lloyd's latest, making this a charming addition to any middle grade collection. ["This novel will be appreciated by younger middle grade readers who enjoy mysteries with an ample dose of magic and whimsy": SLJ 3/16 review of the Scholastic book.]-Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In a folksy tale laced with supernatural mystery, Lloyd (A Snicker of Magic) poetically conveys the depth of 12-year-old Emma's emotions as she embarks on a quest to uncover a legendary secret. Except for the times when Emma is overcome by "the Big Empty," a feeling she gets when she misses her recently deceased mother, she is an ordinary girl. Still, there are things in her Blackbird Hollow home that are extraordinary, like flowers with magical powers, the haunted graveyard just beyond her house, the tantalizing "Boneyard Brew" served in her grandmother's cafe, and The Book of Days, which records the "destiny dreams" of her ancestors (interspersed through the story). When her grandmother, plagued by money worries, considers selling the family business, Emma is determined to save the cafe by finding treasure, reputedly buried in the graveyard. The book's evocative setting and cast of eccentric minor characters will draw readers into Emma's world-one warmed by friendship, love, and hope-to share in her discovery that the most valuable treasures lie within. Ages 8-12. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary & Media. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A girl awaiting her destiny must uncover lost treasure to save her home. Orphan Emma lives above the Boneyard Cafe, her family's business, right next to the cemetery. She comes from a long line of Wildflowers: the women in her family each experience a Destiny Dream, a specific dream that steers them to extraordinary lives. When it looks as though Emma's grandmother (Granny Blue, a tattooed retired boxer) will be forced to sell their home, Emma looks for answers in a graveyard legend. The Conductor, a Civil War-era ghost, is said to have left treasure in Blackbird Hollow. With the help of Cody Belle, her trusty best friend, and Earl Chance, a boy newly returned to town and traumatized into muteness after a close encounter with a tornado, and guidance from her own less-than-clear Destiny Dream, Emma uses town lore to hunt for the treasure. Despite ghosts and graves, the story avoids the macabre and instead focuses on the relationships among memory, sadness, and joy, especially as Emma's still recovering from her mother's death. The mystery's as much fun as a treasure hunt should be, and the clues are augmented by magical flowers. Blackbird Hollow is as largely white as might be expected of an Appalachian holler, but the story avoids twee with such details as Granny Blue's Harley and Emma's fondness for rock-'n'-roll. A bouquet of quirks, whimsy, sweetness, and magic. (Fantasy. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Ghosts and magic weave through this warmly sentimental tale of small-town life. News that Granny Blue is thinking of selling the declining Boneyard Café to a developer is hard on 12-year-old force of nature Emma Pearl. Spurred to action, she searches the nearby cemetery for a fabled treasure said to be guarded by a ghost known as the Conductor. The plot plays second fiddle to a cast full of lovable, mildly eccentric locals, and to the setting itself: Blackbird Hollow is a Tennessee town where strange flowers bloom year round, ghosts exist, and Emma's ancestors have left her a strange legacy. Emma makes homey observations about friends and neighbors, longs to save the café, and yearns for the life-changing Destiny Dream that comes to all the women in her family, and the result is a narrative as rich and sweet as the café's own peach-lavender muffins. A climactic whirlwind leads to a triumphant close, but one character's observation that Everything wonderful is possible is the tale's true touchstone.--Peters, John Copyright 2016 Booklist
