The Returning

February 14, 2011
In the aftermath of war in a preindustrial world long divided between Uplanders and Downlanders, a fractured community recovers and a new country begins to find its identity. At the heart of this story, which moves among characters in almost vignette-like chapters, is Cam, a boy who went off to war (and loses an arm) but returns many years later, bewildered that his life—alone—was spared by the son of the lord who won the war. After falling out with his family, Cam seeks out the son, Lord Gyaar, to find answers. A boy who befriends and then falls in love with Cam brings a particularly heart-wrenching thread to the story, as does the character of Diido, a girl who loses everything in the war except the spirit that helps her find a new life. Themes of rebuilding and redemption are powerful, but it is in the small, acutely observed details of debut author Hinwood's world that her story truly shines. The book's slow pace may put off some readers, but those who stick with it will be well rewarded. Ages 12–up.

Starred review from March 15, 2011
A riveting examination of war and its effects set in a nonmagical alternative past. The war is over, but beyond the battlefields its impact is just starting to be felt. Like a stone cast in a pond, a father tells his daughter, "it's thrown and done, but the ripples do take longer to spread and flatten. That's what this is, the ripples." Early chapters of this extraordinary debut (published in Australia as Bloodflower in 2009) are loosely connected vignettes focusing on the ripples farthest from the center: families on the losing side whose sons didn't return, the one son—Cam—who did, refugees who arrive and move in. Gradually, readers are drawn back to the center, to those who waged and won the war. At the center are Cam and Gyaar, the victor's son. The fateful choices of each drive the plot, but the details of how war changes everyone are what matters most. The losers' village and social order are disrupted, but for some, like battered wife Ellaner and misfit Ban, change is oxygen. For the victors, change is more comfortable but equally unforeseen and uncontainable. Grounding the story are the closely observed characters and their world—vivid, flawed and immensely appealing. Like Margo Lanagan, Hinwood doesn't trade in black-and-white moral absolutes but directs her attention, and ours, to the infinite shades of gray that lie between them. (Alternative historical fiction. 12 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

June 1, 2011

Gr 9 Up-During fictitious medieval times, Cam Attling leaves for war as a boy of 12, and, at the age of 18, he's the only soldier to return. Townspeople view him with suspicion, his betrothed's father breaks the engagement, and family members treat him differently because he lost a limb. Disillusioned, Cam leaves home a second time to find his way in service to the lord who maimed him in battle and then nursed him back to health. Hinwood weaves together an epic tale with engaging vignettes that eventually come full circle. Unfortunately, odd formatting tends to break the spell and create an uncomfortable read. Long chapters are divided into sections by an extra line space and a first sentence that begins with three or four words in capital letters: "CLOSE TO, THE keep wall was not pure and white and smooth." Capital letters demand attention, but these don't seem to serve a purpose. In addition, the characters' unusual vernacular may slow readers down. It takes time to become accustomed to dialect with double verbs, e. g., "He's bitter after his sons did die," combined with Yoda-like speech patterns, e. g., "Just there when the sword fell, were you." However, readers who invest the time will eventually be swept up in Cam's story and appreciate the manner in which various lives intertwine with his.-Patricia N. McClune, Conestoga Valley High School, Lancaster, PA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2011
Grades 9-11 Cam returns to his medieval village after losing his arm in a debilitating war experience. Mam and Da know he suffered terribly and have a difficult time seeing him flounder about, now rejected by his betrotheds family and at odds with the world. What was the full story of the war, and why did no one else from the village return? Cams secrets eventually drive him onward, in search of the conquering young lord, Gyaar, who spared his life in battle. The victorious Uplanders have gained control of Cams land and neighboring territory. Cam stalks the conquerors castle, eventually forcing a face-off, and a mysterious alliance bonds the two warriors, lord and vassal. Cam reminds Gyaar of his late brother, and Gyaars world opens new life meanings to Cam. The Returning is a complex, not always easily accessible story, with mystic touches permeating the strongly rendered medieval setting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2011
Cam goes off to war at age twelve and returns at age seventeen, spiritually maimed, one arm missing, the single surviving soldier of his village. There is no hero's welcome. In a series of artfully interwoven character studies, of Cam's betrothed, his young sister, a refugee child, the village boy who loves him, and the enemy whose life Cam spared, Hinwood gradually reveals her richly conceived pre-industrial, agrarian world. Her language, a mixture of newly minted words, archaic English, and subtle variants on syntax and grammar, reads like a foreign tongue in which one is magically fluent. The restraint, earthiness, and perfect pitch of this telling are reminiscent of Kevin Crossley-Holland. Secrets are exposed, people are brought to unexpected kindness, the complexities of politics and love are examined, all against the backdrop of the horror and sheer stupidity of war. "Gyodan had told him, 'War is art: strategy, sword-work, archery.' But to Gyaar, it was grass churned to mud, the mud red." sarah ellis

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)