🍂OVER THE WOODWARD WALL is perfect for an advanced middle grade reader/precocious, imaginative tween. (me at age 11, basically)
🦉Zeb & Avery aren't friends yet, and they are very different kids. Avery loves rules and Zeb is a bit of a wild child.
🦉On the way to school they climb a wall, ending up in another world.
🦉Very Wonderland / Oz influenced world-building with Impossible Roads, girls made of crows, and dastardly kings & queens.
🦉This book demands to be read aloud. The language wraps around you like ivy on an abandoned castle.
🦉(The author is a pen name for adult fantasy author Seanan McGuire!)

Over the Woodward Wall tells the story of Zib and Avery, two children who accidentally find their way into a fantastical world of talking owls, girls made of crows and improbable roads that can appear wherever you happen to be. The story is marketed as a tale for all ages and it would not be difficult to see the appeal of this as a read-aloud for school age children. The main characters are likable, with relatable personal obstacles to overcome. The amount of peril is moderate and there is plenty of adventure and enough excitement to keep the reader (or listener) engaged. This book is clearly the first in a series, and there was not really a resolution to the story. This may be disappointing to some younger readers. However, others may look forward to the further adventures of Zib and Avery and the interesting and odd characters they will undoubtedly encounter.

This is the book that appears in Seanan McGuire's "Middlegame"; in that book it's described as an alchemical text hidden in plain sight. While it's a must read for anyone who has read "Middlegame", it can be enjoyed on its own as a portal fantasy. Two children, neighbors but unknown to one another, encounter each other on the way to school one morning when their normal routes are disrupted. Avery and "Zib" go over a wall and end up in a land that shouldn't be. There they meet Kings, Queens, and Pages, all dangerous and with their own designs and they're helped (and not) by owls and crowgirls., This book will delight McGuire's readers.

Disclaimer: I have not read Middlegame (yet?), therefor I might be missing something.

This is one of those books that I can see is beautiful. The writing style is something very playful and lyrical and I'm really curious to read other works of the author. However, this book felt like a retelling of other playful quest stories such as Alice in Wonderland, and I wasn't gripped by any of the adventures/riddles. It's hard to explain because I like the premise of two characters that are as different as night and day, and have to learn to work together, but nothing in this book surprised me or made me wonder.

What I do want to say is that the ending is one of my favorite moments. It really made me wonder about the sequel, which is a weird feeling since nothing in the main story could pull me in. So in that way, that's another sign that I do really appreciate the writing style.

Seanan McGuire recently wrote the very popular Middlegame and within that book were passages of a story about two children on a journey of self discovery written by A. Deborah Baker. Obviously that name is just a pseudonym and the author has now gone back to bring Avery and Zibs adventures to life in this middle grade book. They might start out as perfectly ordinary children with little in common but follow their travels as they journey to a better understanding of what really matters.
This story is just beginning and I'm intrigued to know how it will all end. The writing is exceptional and pulled me in with its whimsical style and at times I was reminded of The Water Babies and Through the Looking Glass. A delight to read and surely set to be a modern classic because it's both haunting and beautiful.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

This deserves to be an instant classic of children’s literature. The story is so fun, the scenes full of an Alice in Wonderland like surreal beauty, and the characters so fully realized. On top of that, it layers subtle things that are so important to learn—messages of understanding and honoring our emotions, of identity being more than what people see, of inequality and unfairness being something to fight against. I love how deep and meaningful everything is. I can’t wait for the sequel!

Over the Woodward Wall is a fascinating and engaging tale of two children on an unparalleled adventure in an alternate world. Facing numerous challenges in a world that forces them to stretch their imaginations, Zib and Avery have to undergo a perilous journey in order to go back to their own world.

The story reminded me of classics like The Wizard of the Oz and Alice in Wonderland with a twist of urban fantasy similar to Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. It reads like a fairy tale but with much detailed world-building, character development and exciting yet perilous dangers. I am pretty sure my teenage self would have been crazy after this book.

Avery and Zib are two quite dissimilar kids brought up in vastly different households. While one values order and discipline, the other embraces chaos and adventure. Caught unsuspected in a journey which they must undertake together, it is interesting to see their beliefs challenged. It is beautiful to see them developing a camaraderie over the journey, caring for each other and even admiring each other even when they are quite different.

Baker does an impeccable job with the world-building. Through her words, she captures the sense of child-like excitement & delight as well as fear and disquiet at having landed in a world where anything can happen. The creatures of the Up and Under are equally magical, with multi-layered personalities depicted through their personal struggles and experiences. Needless to say, the Up and Under leaves both Zib and Avery with many learnings. As the journey progresses, we see both the children grow bolder and braver and smarter, doing things out of their comfort zones.

I will be eagerly looking forward to the sequel! I hope that we get to see more of Avery's personality, as he was somewhat outshone by Zib in this one. Although he does show courage towards the very end of this book, I am sure there are hidden gems in his personality which will shine under different challenges in their adventure.

Wow. Just... wow.

When I first requested this, I wasn't aware this was Seanan McGuire writing under a pseudonym. Even after learning it was her book, I still wasn't 100% sure how I would feel about what basically seemed like a middle grade version of the Wayward Children series.

Avery and Zib are our two child protagonists and even though they are very different, the heart of the story is that children are mostly the same where it counts the most- their hearts. Two children who are polar opposites, who haven't known each other before going over the wall suddenly find themselves responsible for each other and what seems like a bad combination turns into friendship and camaraderie and a desire to see things through together. I loved how well-fleshed out each of the children were and how all of the characters in the story definitely had distinctive voices.

It's not a long book, not that it needs to be, but it delivers a powerful little story with lovely little quotes that stick with you after the book is over. I can't wait to read the rest of this story.

(I've been told that this connects with Middlegame somehow... so I'm off to read that now.)

I loved this SO MUCH. Without any shadow of a doubt, the best MG I’ve read since Nevermoor which is the highest possible praise I can bestow on a book for this age range.

Avery is straight-laced, sensible, orderly and utterly predictable, Zib is flighty, creative, adventurous and perfectly unpredictable. Despite being the same age and living on the same street just three doors apart, they have never met and may never have met if not for two fateful diversions that kept them both from their separate routes to their separate schools. When they quite literally climb into an adventure, the strange and dangerous nature of the land they find themselves in forces them to embrace what makes them and each other so remarkable.

This is Seanan McGuire writing under a pseudonym and is connected to her adult fantasy novel, Middlegame which I haven’t read yet but have just immediately bumped up my TBR. Just the idea of interconnecting stories across age ranges and genres ticks boxes I didn’t even know I had!

This really represented everything I love about the best of children’s literature, it’s brilliantly written (significantly better than a lot of YA fantasy I’ve read), dark and twisty with more in common with Coraline or A Series of Unfortunate Events than lots of lighter, sweeter MG fantasy fare and has so much for an imaginative child (or adult) to get their teeth into. I adored the two main characters, the way that they’ve been celebrated for their various, different (not necessarily traditional hero/heroine) traits and the way they contrast and compliment each other. I am so ridiculously excited for the next installment.

What always stands out for me in middle-grade fiction (and in this book specifically) is the focus on friendship that just seems to degenerate as we enter YA and then adult fiction. I’d love more stories that normalise friendship between characters whose respective genders and sexualities mean that a romantic interest is possible. There’s nothing healthy about the endless suggestions that friendship isn’t possible in that context or even in depicting friendship as an absence of something more. Friendship is beautiful and deserves to be celebrated.

firstly thank you to the publishers for sending me this book in exchange for review.

I really enjoyed over the Woodward wall so very much, I flew through this novel and loved how whimsical and fantastical this was. a really great middle grade novel that I would recommend for anyone to read and features some really great characters.
I loved all the different lands they visited in this huge forest over the wall and how transported it made me feel like I was along on the journey with them.

overall.a really well written novel with some whimsical writing too. would recommend and I actually loved how abrupt the ending.

Seanan McGuire never fails to impress. This story felt like it belonged in the Wayward Children series. It was fun and whimsical, although at times a little over the top. I don't really have any complaints about this book, honestly. It was just the sweet, magical book to offset the darkness of Middlegame.

Before all, I'd like to thank NetGalley and Tor Books for allowing me to have access to the ARC of Over the Woodward Wall.

I was quite curious about this book when I discovered Seanan Mcguire wrote it under a pen name, because I really liked "Every heart a doorway". At the same time, I was not sure how it would work, once I know it is a companion book of Middlegame, that I have not read yet. So I wanted to start my review stating that I might have lost references in the story because of that.

That said, here are my impressions. The world building, and even the plot of "Over the Woodward Wall" itself, seem to have been inspired by books like "Alice's adventures in wonderland" and "The Wizard of Oz", and that was not a surprise given the fact that this is the same author of The Wayward Children series. But, even though the setting is interesting, most of the time I felt quite lost, and I'm saying that even for a nonsensical world it was too difficult to understand descriptions at some points.

About the challenges... I know this is a book for children, but I couldn't help to feel that the problems were either far too easily solved or solved by someone else, given the fact that there are always many beings coming to save the main characters.

Talking characters, I have to admit I liked both Avery and Zib, I could notice their development, but I wanted to see them being more challenged, and I hope that is what we are going to have on the sequels. I also hope they find some vilains that are really threatening and not so easily convincing.

The book has a lot of great features in it, the plot, the messages behind it (I could hear Seanan's voice in all those interesting reflections about being yourself and adulthood), I liked the construction of the supporting characters, but It seemed to me like it is still unfinished, especially when we observe of a few discrepancies in the story between chapters 9 and 11.

Again, I think the idea is really good, but the book still has some details to be organized. I'm looking forward to read Middlegame and understand the relationship between both stories.

This book is improbable in all the right ways. As always Seanan writes with a distinct voice and a certain amount of chaos. We go over the wall and down the path with these children and fear for their lives as they face a combination of friends and foes and owls. It does seem like there is no hope of return for these adventurers but at the end a bit of hope manages to wind its way through the woods. It definitely feels like a combination of the Wizard of Oz and Alice in wonderland with a dash of her Wayward Children series thrown in.

Over the Woodward Wall is an odd little book, engaging and absorbing yet unsettling. Over the Woodward Wall is a companion book to Seanan Mcguire's Middlegame, an adult novel currently nominated for a Hugo award. As a kid's book, the eerie aspects may overwhelm more delicate readers, but curious kids will like Zib and Avery's adventures well enough.

I went into this story without really knowing anything besides the fact that it was written by Seanan Maguire. I really enjoyed Middlegame and was excited about this story. I had no idea going in that this is actually a companion to Middlegame. I DO suggest reading Middlegame before jumping into this story, although it is not required, I think it adds more to the story.
This story was exactly what I needed in a time like this. It was heartwarming and whimsical. We follow two children from very different walks of life as they discover this world that they never knew existed. It is a great story for all ages. It is filled with loyalty and friendship. The main characters Avery and Zib are the direct opposites of each other and I think that that was really great to see how they thought through things so differently, but at the end of the day always were protecting each other. Watching their friendship build was absolutely beautiful. I think this is a book that is best to go into blind and just enjoy the journey. I will definitely be picking up a copy to reread when I need a pick me up book.

Over the Woodward Wall is the first book I’ve read by Seanan McGuire and it’s such a shame I haven’t picked up any of her other books before. She is incredible! The narration alone is enough to make me climb and jump over the wall and join Zib and Avery in their epic adventure.

The book reads like a classic fairy tale with its perilous yet captivating world. I believe it’s a loose retelling of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with a smidge of Alice in Wonderland. Like Dorothy, Zib and Avery must follow the Improbable Road to the Impossible City to find their way home, with the help of peculiar companions they meet along the way.

I learned that Over the Woodward Wall is a fictional book mentioned in Middlegame by Seanan McGuire, not unlike Carry On’s relationship with Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Being 25 and having not read Middlegame, I may or may not be the target audience for this book; but I think my younger self would have been crazy over this.

Over the Woodward Wall may be one of those novels that confuses the unaware. You see, it says it is written by A. Deborah Baker, but that is yet another pseudonym for Seanan McGuire. Over the Woodward Wall is a tie in novel to Middlegame.
More accurately, it's a book mentioned several times during Middlegame. That's why fans of that novel don't really need to be told the connection. So if you haven't read Middlegame, I strongly urge you to do so first, before diving into this world.
Avery and Zib are about as different as children can be. The only real thing they have in common is that they live so close to each other – yet in many ways, so very far apart. That is, until the way they cross over a very strange wall.
Suddenly, both children were in the Up and Under. The only way out is to work together. For there is no way out without the other.

“It was a morning unlike any other. It was simply that no one had realized it yet.”

Over the Woodward Wall is one of the most enchanting tales you'll be able to read this year. It's imaginative, yet told as almost a cautionary tale. In that sense, it blends perfectly into the lore of Middlegame and is exactly what fans were looking for.
The tale of Avery and Zib is both beautiful and haunting. Once again Seanan McGuire has created a world that is simultaneously wondrous and dangerous – and thrown her protagonists into it headfirst.
If there's one thing I will never be sick of, it's Seanan McGuire's rendition of fairy tales. So it's probably no surprise that I dove on this novella. The fact that I would have been interested even without knowing the connection to Middlegame, or even who wrote it, is just further proof of how intriguing I found the tale to be.
One of the many things I loved about this story is the juxtaposition between Avery and Zib. One child is neat, clean, and orderly. While the other is wild, chaotic, and messy. Their journey together is not an easy one, and yet over time, they learn to rely on each other. All while embracing everything that makes them so different from one another.
If you love classic tales such as Through the Looking Glass, Phantom Tolbooth, or any others like those, then you're going to adore Over the Woodward Wall. Even the title is evocative of the nature of this story.
One thing that I can't help but smile about: there's no doubt in my mind that we'll be seeing more of this world. Originally I was given the impression that it would be a standalone novel...but this is Seanan McGuire we're talking about. She can create endless tales in the worlds of her making. The fact that Goodreads is listing this as #1 in an untitled series is really just proof that there is likely more to come.

Thanks to Tor for giving me a free digital galley of "Over the Woodward Wall" in exchange for feedback.

Here's what I knew, picking up this book: There's no such person as A.Deborah Baker. A.Deborah Baker is the fabulous Seanan McGuire, and "Over the Woodward Wall" is the book read by the characters in McGuire's weirdest and most complex book so far, "Middlegame." Now, McGuire has written the fictional book, so it's kind of a metabook.

You don't need to have read "Middlegame," though - this works just fine on its own, as a children's weird adventure in the spirit of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" or "The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making" or "The Phantom Tollbooth" or "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" or "Summer in Orcus..." there are a lot of books that have roughly this same plot. One or more children encounter a weird link between their own world and an unpredictable world of magic, where they meet strange, magical people, solve problems and surmount obstacles to try to reach their goal.

I love these books, PS. My first book-love was "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," which is another of those books.

In this one, the two children are Avery (neat, organized, a little uptight) and Zib (wild, messy, chaotic), and the link is a wall across a familiar street, which, once climbed, can't be unclimbed. The road is the Improbable Road, and the goal is the Impossible City.

I liked it. It is a good addition to the genre. Maybe you will like it, too.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC. This was a fantastic fable, perfect for both adults and children. Over the Woodward Wall feels inspired by the classic fables that we all grew up reading, but with a modern twist. Though it does tie into Seanan McGuire's novel Middlegame, it isn't necessary to have read Middlegame before reading Over the Woodward Wall. Once I finished reading Middlegame I was always curious about the stories of the improbable road and the Impossible City, and am so happy that we get to find out more about them. I did not realize when I started reading that this was the first entry in a new series, but I cannot wait for the next book and continue Zib and Avery's adventure.

A lovely book, in the tradition of the Phantom Tolbooth or Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. While nothing like the novel it came from, Middlegame, Over The Woodward Wall is a charming fairy tale-esque adventure story. My only real issue with it is I wish it hadn’t been so set up for a sequel — I’d have liked it to be one complete novel.

- Nirica from Team Champaca