Foxlee, Karen. Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy. Knopf BFYR, 2014.
Ophelia's mother died three months ago, and Ophelia and her sister have accompanied their father to a museum where he's setting up an exhibit of swords. Ophelia, always rational and scientific, is looking for a dinosaur exhibit when she stumbles upon a mural with a hidden door. When she looks into the keyhole of that door she sees the Marvelous Boy. He begins to tell her his story and Ophelia traverses the museum in search of keys to let him out of his room. She's not sure if she believes his story about a magic sword and a snow queen, until her mother's voice in her head reminds her to use her heart and not just her brain.
This book is amazingly well done. Ophelia is a very believable and lovable character, and her adventures in the museum, combined with the tales from the Marvelous Boy, make a great story that kept me turning the pages. This book would be easy to recommend to fans of The Chronicles of Narnia or fans of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The fantasy elements also would resound with fans of Roald Dahl or Jenny Nimmo. I can't wait to add this one to my library's collections!
Recommended for: tweens, middle grade, fantasy fans, fans of Harry Potter, Narnia, Roald Dahl
Red Flags: mild sword-fighting, one character has his finger eaten by an owl
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley for the purposes of review.
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