I liked several aspects of Quintessence. The surprising friendships between Alma, Shirin, Hugh, and another character that we don't even see coming were very sweet. I also liked how Alma learned that appearances could be deceiving. Alma wrote Shirin off as one of the "popular" girls, but quickly realized that there was much more to Shirin than just sitting with the cool kids at lunch. And as Alma was learning this, the reader learns it too. The overall story was good, although there was a lot going on, and I didn't feel that the explanations and exposition were always sufficient to help the reader truly understand. I also liked that Alma was a main character with anxiety, but I felt that could have been done a little better. It bothered me that Alma's panic attacks were at first labeled as "episodes". I gathered that was what was happening, but I wish the actual term had been used sooner. I also did not like how much Alma was lying -- to her friends, her parents, her doctor. It was a little disturbing. Fortunately, Alma finally realizes that telling the truth is much better. I am glad it was made obvious that Alma learned that lesson. I look forward to adding this book to my library when it is published.

Wow, this book has SO much to love! I loved Jess Redman's book The Miraculous, and could not wait to read this new book - I was not one bit disappointed. Quintessence is a friendship adventure, a redemption story, a book about anxiety, opportunities, embracing our uniqueness, taking risks, making things right, and learning how to truly love one another. The characters are fascinating and appealing, and each has an important arc that fits into the big picture through twists and turns. It is suspenseful, emotional, and magical. Perfect for the whole range of middle grade readers., Jess has a writing style that is both accessible to the younger end of middle grade (8-10 year olds) but still compelling for 10-12 year olds.
I will definitely be adding this book to my classroom library, and recommending it for our school library. Thank you to #NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital ARC of this book!

This book is full of science and magic with strong themes of friendship and self-discovery. Highly recommended to middle grade readers. I see this being used in an astronomy unit of study, too.

Quintessence is an imaginative and magical journey in novel form that captured my interest from the summary. Since Alma has moved to Four Points 3 months ago, she has not only been having panic attacks, she has been feeling that part of herself, which she calls her "Alma-ness" is missing. One day, she meets an odd old man who gives her a telescope-like device called a quintescope. That night, she sees what she thinks is a falling star with what seems to be a child in it, land behind her house. Alma, along with the help of some friends she makes along the way, attempt to Find the Elements, Grow the Light and Save the Starling. This is a wonderful story I definitely will recommend to students who love stories about friendship and finding yourself with a little bit of magical help.

Quintessence was an absolutely masterpiece. Jess Redman hit this one out of the park. As I was reading this story, I found myself in complete awe of the world Jess Redman created in this story. How she ever thought of the elementals and saving a star is beyond me. I would love to just sit and chat with Jess Redman someday on the process she went through to write this novel. In my opinion, it should be in the running for many awards this year... including the Newberry.

Quintessence by Jess Redman explores the life of 12 year old Alma who has moved to a new town and feels lost and alone. Not wanting to let her parents know how unhappy she is, she doesn't tell them about the panic attacks she is having and lets them think she is making friends and fitting in. This book is great for young people dealing with their own anxiety and panic attacks. It will hopefully help them see themselves and know that they aren't alone and you can conquer anything with a few friends working together. Alma sees a falling star through a type of telescope and asks members of the Astronomy club to help her find a rescue this fallen Starling. Working together the new friends help not just the fallen Staring but also themselves along the way

Thanks Net Galley for the advanced copy for review.

Alma has just moved to the town of Four Points, a small town that has a mystery in a place called "The Fifth Point". Even the names of these places had me intrigued. Alma struggles with panic attacks and not fitting in at a new place. While these types of problems are the center of many middle grade stories (as they should be), Quintessence brings a unique story and mystery surrounding them. I was rooting for Alma to save the starling and connect with something bigger than herself, while also hooked on the outcome of her relationship with her family.

I received this ARC from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Miraculous, and was excited to read Jess Redman’s Quintessence, a book I’ve heard so much about. Alma is new to Four Points and is struggling to fit in. She’s been having panic attacks and can’t seem to “acclimate” the way her parents keep hoping she will. When she happens upon an open door at the Fifth Point, she heads in and finds a strange looking telescope. That telescope turns out to be a Quintescope and sets Alma on the adventure of a lifetime.

There was a lot in this book that readers will like. Alma’s adventure, the unexpected trio of friends who join her, and the mix of science and fantasy that weave this tale will be exciting for many middle grade readers. For me, unfortunately, it just moved too slowly. I wasn’t as engaged as I wished I was, and found myself pushing through some pages.

Jess Redman delivers another touching and engaging book that young readers who are fans of quieter books will thoroughly enjoy. Redman explores the issue of anxiety in a real and age-appropriate manner. Lyrical and moving, I recommend this book.

This book kept me wanting more, wanting to not put it down. It was a beautiful story of friendship and family. The character building was done extremely well, I could almost feel what the characters were experiencing. The book brought four very different kids together and built a friendship that wasn’t perfect but that was realistic. The subject was so complicated but was told in such a way that was completely relatable.

This book is definitely a five star for me. It will stay with me for a long time.

Twelve-year old Alma has moved to a new town. Unhappy, friendless, and experiencing panic attacks, she discovers a quintescope in an old shop in the center of town. While looking through the quintescope one night, she sees a star fall--and she knows that it is up to her to save it.

This book certainly has some strong aspects. The idea of the plot is creative and interesting, and watching the friendship emerge between the four children is very satisfying. The idea of finding the four elements and having to do so by engaging in teamwork also adds to the strength of the work.

While I would not recommend this book for reluctant readers, I would suggest it as a title for avid readers who enjoy fantasy and for those who enjoy Trenton Lee Stewart's The Mysterious Benedict Society.

Quintessence by Jess Redman

Summary

Alma Lucas has anxiety. She doesn’t talk to people about her troubles with anxiety; in fact she doesn’t really talk to people at all. Her parents often ask her to put herself out there and make friends so they are quite pleased when she finds a flyer for an astronomy club and decides to attend.

Alma finds herself chasing after fallen stars, and learning about the world around her with her three new friends.

Thoughts

This was a very thoughtful novel that dealt with anxiety in children. I think Redman created something beautiful for children and adults alike. She gives children the power to deal with their own anxiety, and provides adults with some clarity about anxiety in children. She did all of this while creating a beautiful fairy tale like story.

Even as an adult I felt a connection to these characters. They are all so imperfect and human. Alma secretly struggles with panic attacks and anxiety for fear of being a disappointment to her parents who believe she's gotten better since their move to a new town. She is having a hard time acclimating and making friends until a poster draws her attention. She joins the Astronomy Club and meets some new people. Together they embark on a journey to save a fallen Starling. They are guided by the mysterious shopkeeper of the Fifth Point, who helps them all realize their true spirits and their irrefutable human need for community and understanding. Alma is able to embrace her true nature and accept that her parents have never been disappointed by her, they simply were trying their best to help her.

E ARC provided by Netgalley



Alma and her family have moved to Four Points for her parents' work as real estate lawyers. She has always struggled to make friends and feel comfortable at school, but the moved has upended her so much that she has started to have increasingly common panic attacks. After the first one, she has hidden them from her parents, who are always trying to be helpful and encourage her to get out and try new things. When she gets a mysterious note, she discovers a Astronomy Club at school attended by only Shirin and Hugo, and also gets a "quintescope" from the oddly mystical Five Points Shop and the Shopkeeper, who gives her the mission "Find the Elements. Grow the Light. Save the Starling." Shirin and Hugo help her figure out how to go about doing this, and help her a little in dealing with school. Dustin, a dysfunctional but somewhat misunderstood bully, doesn't at first but is somewhat useful in the end. Will Alma be able to get the elements gathered in time to save the Starling, and will she also beableto handle middle school and manage her anxiety?

Strengths: This was on trend in the treatment of a tween with an anxiety disorder. The parents are fairly, although not entirely, aware of this, and both supportive. Near the end, they do suggest a therapist. Shirin and Hugo are good friends to Alma and help her with her quest, even though it is one that is hard to believe. The quest is well developed and aidedby the magical ShopKeeper.

Weaknesses: This type of magical realism is a hard sell with my readers, who like their problem novels, but prefer their magic to be more fun.

What I really think: I revisited this because so many people enjoyed it, and I can see it being popular with an appreciative audience. Alma's story has an Ingrid Law, Wendy Mass, and Natalie Lloyd vibe as does this author's The Miraculous. This is also somewhat similarto Haydu's Eventown or Staniszewski's The Wonder of Wildflowers.

"Find the Elements. Grow the Light. Save the Starling."

With these words, middle-grade author Jess Redman begins to take us on our journey with 12-year-old Alma, who is more of a hero than she can possibly realize and who instantly becomes a young girl whom you want to follow for the rest of her life.

When her parents bought a small law practice in the town of Four Points, Alma's stable and joy-filled life was upended and the instability she felt emotionally as she struggled to adapt physically and emotionally became expressed as "episodes" of panic, dread, negative self-talk, and increased isolation. After a few weeks, she convinces herself, and mostly her parents, that these episodes are gone.

She knows the truth. Alma is losing her Alma-ness and doesn't know how to get it back.

The fact that I sit here having written that last sentence with a tear in my eye likely gives you some indication of just how emotionally honest I found "Quintessence" to be, a sublimely written emotional and physical adventure that elicits laughter and tears, memories and reflection.

One day, a still struggling Alma ventures into the mysterious shop at the end of Four Points called The Fifth Point, a rambly and shambly junk shop of sorts where the Shop Keeper loans her a kinda sorta telescope, okay it's a quintescope, and through that quintescope she spies late one night a falling star that, upon landing, presents itself as a rather magical looking child who appears lost and searching for home.

Alma understands that feeling.

Man, I'm crying again.

Determined to somehow help this lost Starling, Alma fearfully steps into her school's Astronomy Club where she meets those who will become essential to her journey - a delightful and seemingly always happy Shirin and a smart and seemingly always smart Hugo.

Originally scheduled for a May release, "Quintessence" has been pushed back to July 28, 2020 in a move that, at least hopefully, frees it from the the challenge of being released amidst the anxiety-inducing pandemic currently impacting daily life. It's a move that one hopes will bring the attention deserved to this delightful, intelligent, and incredibly entertaining novel from Jess Redman.

A therapist who returned to her childhood love of writing with her first middle-grade novel "The Miraculous," Redman writes with a perfect weaving together of clinical insight and a child's eye view of the world that surrounds them.

Redman doesn't show her cards early in "Quintessence," instead allowing us to experience the journey of a 12-year-old who has experiences for which she has no words. By not frivolously tossing in clinical language, Redman also allows us to experience the wonderfulness of Alma and the building of the adventure about to unfold. "Quintessence" may tackle a serious subject, but it does so in a way that is childlike and filled with a sense of wonder and awe at the humanity of all of us and the ways in which we are inherently and irrevocably connected.

Alma is a joy, though for much of "Quintessence" she feels more like an "other." She doesn't feel like Alma and Redman wonderfully captures how that feels for a child. She also wonderfully captures Alma's parents, well-meaning but occasionally misguided in their parenting. With tremendous wisdom, Redman doesn't paint a story of a young child who suddenly becomes everything she needs but instead paints a story of a child who suddenly becomes aware that we all need each other.

The same is true for Hugo and Shirin, delightful children with human foibles and little imperfections in their own lives. "Quintessence" captures the brilliance of their strengths and weaknesses and how they become healthier and happier human beings when they work together.

Dustin, as well, is a bit of a mystery in the book. A bully of sorts with conflicted relationships with all three of our main characters, there's little doubt early on where his story arc will go but it's still a joy watching it unfold naturally and honestly.

And so it is.

"Quintessence" is a magical reading experience that possesses the vulnerable humanity of a child and the magic of the world in which these children live. It tackles serious subject matter, but it does so in a way that is developmentally appropriate, accessible, incredibly entertaining, and destined to create opportunities for conversation and reflection. Redman has constructed a world of creativity and vivid imagination, a celebration of humanity, friendship, the universe, and the myriad of ways in which our lives are better when we are together.

Scheduled for a July 28th release, "Quintessence" will be a valuable read for every middle-grade reader and it would be beneficial for adults to read so that they can answer questions and initiate valuable opportunities for honest conversations. Beyond the obvious value of its subject matter, "Quintessence" is simply a truly enjoyable book with characters you will love and appreciate, a story with which it's easy to relate, and an adventure that will inspire.

The characters are multi-dimensional, the setting is just magical enough, and the plot keeps the reader engaged. As Alma searches for her lost Alma-ness, she discovers that the search for self is part of being human. Recommended for those who enjoyed Snicker of Magic or The Wishing Tree.

This is a quiet but deep read. Quite adventureous but in unexpected ways. I really enjoyed the astronomy connection and that we are from the starts and filled with quintessence.

This was a delightful story of a young girl discovering that becoming who you're meant to be isn't always easy, but it does end up being a wonderful experience.

Alma suffers from "episodes", but they only started after her parents moved her to a new town, a new school, away from everything she enjoys. One day she sees a flyer for Astronomy Club, and for whatever reason, she feels compelled to go to the club. There she meets two other kids, Hugo and Shirin, who seem to be too smart and too cool to be her friend, but are both willing to hang out with her in the club. They all saw an extraordinary site the night before, and Alma convinces them that there was a fallen star that needs their help. The three of them begin an adventure in order to find out what their quintessence is and to help each other realize that they don't need to be alone anymore.

Wonderful book for middle-schoolers who are struggling with the change of becoming older and realizing that they each have something important about them that no one else has.

Copy provided by NetGalley

Quintessence is a beautifully written story about Alma, a girl who has moved from her beloved hometown and has panic attacks. She has found it especially hard to adjust to her new school and city as well as making sure her parents aren't worried about her. She soon finds herself drawn to a magical shop. While there, she is given a quintescope. Little does she know that this will lead her on a special journey. This journey will allow her to meet new friends, help someone, and learn more about herself. Quintessence is a magical story that readers will fall in love with.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A delightful story of four children coming together through a mysterious stranger to find themselves as the relate to one another. The very short chapters with "cliffhanger" makes the book move along very quickly. Alma moves to a new town and can't seem to "acclimate" as her parents would like her to. Not wanting to disappoint her parents she doesn't tell them about her panic attacks which she calls episodes. The mysterious stranger leaves things outside his shop for each certain child so that they must share their information and things with the others so they can put the fallen star, a Starling, back up in the sky. Whimsical in nature the story is endearing in how the 4 children and Alma's family draw together not just to save the star but show how much they care for one another.