#16 The Ship of Stolen Words by Fran Wilde

 

This is a fun fantasy middle grade book that has fun and also reminds kids about the power of words. Goblins come over to our side of the world and steal words that the speaker has said without any true feeling behind them.  Sam has found that “sorry” is a great word to get him out of trouble and make things easier. When an goblin and his grandmother cross into our world to take those words to power their magic, Sam finds that life is very tough without it.  To make matters worse the young goblin also takes “regret” and “apologize”.  Sam finds out just how hard it is when he can no longer apologize to his friend about something he said to upset her on the last day. And now he must find a way to get his words back and make things right with his friend. 

 

The magic world of the goblins was interesting and some readers may want to see more of how life is for them and how they go about using thoughtless words to fuel their magic. There is some technology innovations on that side that are causing issues for them and I could see more books set in this world.

 

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss