Poppy (Tales of Dimwood Forest #2) by Avi

★★★

*** Warning: This review contains SPOILERS!! ***

Overall, I just found this book to be less satisfying than Ragweed.

On the plus side, each character is skillfully drawn with clear personalities. The story, too, is interesting. Poppy (a mouse) and her family want to move from Gray House to New House. Mr. Ocax, an owl who rules over the mice, forbids it, and Poppy goes on an expedition to New House to figure out what Mr. Ocax is hiding. Somehow, though, the book stopped short of endearing itself to me. I did enjoy it, and I will probably read the next book in the series, but somehow, I just don't see myself going out of my way to recommend this series to others.

Having spent an entire book getting to know Ragweed, I was seriously disappointed when he met an unceremonious end at the very beginning of this book. His death, and another that occurs (somewhat graphically) later in the book - along with the fact that there is talk about one individual being "sacrificed" (literally) for the good of the group - made me think that perhaps this series is better suited for older kids, maybe in grades 2 or 3 through 5.

Unlike other children's books I've read, this book is not written chronologically. First, Ragweed dies. Then, through Poppy's memories, we learn about Ragweed's role in Poppy's life. In trying to figure out why Isabelle didn't like this book (she simply calls it "boring"), I wonder if she (a first grader) just wasn't ready for this kind of storytelling. When reading other books, she is always keen to know "what happens next", as if reading is all about moving the story forward. Maybe these flashbacks - which do serve a purpose in fleshing out the story - just seemed like wasted time to her.

There is also some amount of suspense in this book, and I wonder if that might have turned Isabelle off a bit as well, since dragging out an unanswered question seems to fly in the face of her "I-want-to-know-what-happens-next" attitude. I have to admit, too, that the revelation of the secret of New House was kind of a let-down, not anything so unexpected or dramatic as I had thought it might be.

Towards the end, I felt the story just didn't hang together as tightly as I would have liked. Why did Poppy tell Mr. Ocax the secret about the barn owl, when that barn owl would have been the mice's only protection if they moved there? What was the meaning of Mr. Ocax's last words? Was he just being ironic? And why even include that last chapter? Probably the author wanted to provide a bit of closure for Ragweed, but it seemed like it was hastily added as a teaser for the next book, a rather clumsy way of introducing Rye.

This book does include some name-calling, but it's mostly limited to "idiot" and "jerk". Like Ragweed, Poppy has quite a few take-away lessons, which probably adds to why it's a good book for older elementary school readers. "Stick up for yourself, but don't be foolishly brazen." "It's okay to be different, just be yourself." "It's okay, sometimes even necessary, to challenge authority." "Don't take for granted that what others tell you is true; do your own research." "Sometimes, you have to be brave and do difficult things, even if you don't want to do them." "Bullies pick on others to compensate for their own shortcomings."