I thought this was an interesting book about grief and finding yourself again, but maybe not really what I I was in the mood for but still it was not bad. I really liked the illustrations.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Zora and Frankie lose their mother and since the day she died, Zora can no longer draw. Whatever feeling she got when she was creating left when her mother died. On her sisters birthday, the two fall into a world of Zora's creation. Literally. All of Zora's past pictures have come to life and they all worship her.

Unfortunately, even the pictures she scribbled out have life in this world and they are intent on getting rid of all of the other beings in the world. Zora has a choice, will she help those who depend on her or will she give in to her grief and anger and destroy the last bit of connection she has with her mother.

Blurbed as a read-a-like to the Phantom Tollbooth, Pencilvania, has some of the elements from this classic book, but misses the mark a bit. What this story does well is describing the emotions a child feels when they lose a parent. Anger, grief, frustration, confusion.

I would recommend this book to reader's who enjoy light fantasy or reader's who are looking to explore grief.

Seeing that this was a read-a-like/mashup for/of "The Phantom Tollbooth" and "Harold and the Purple Crayon" had me intrigued! This book examines what it means to be a child coping with grief, both anticipatory and the loss of a parent as well as the magical worlds of possibility that a love of drawing can create.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Young Readers for the gifted ebook of Pencilvania! All opinions in this review are my own.

Pencilvania was described as a cross between The Phantom Tollbooth and Harold and the Purple Crayon. These are two of my childhood favorites so I was immediately excited to read it. Unfortunately, it didn't quite live up to that comparison for me. While I liked the concept of Pencilvania, the world felt underdeveloped. I was expecting Zora and Frankie to spend more time in Pencilvania, but a lot of the story is told in the real world and in flashbacks. I wanted to like it, but it just wasn't for me.

Zora loves to draw. When she picks up her pencil to draw, she can feel the Voom in her arm. It’s like her love of drawing just takes over her, and she can’t stop until she’s finished her picture. Even though Zora is only 12, drawing is something she can share with her mom. Her mom loves to draw too, and sometimes the two of them just sit together and work on pictures. Zora draws a lot of horses, because her little sister Frankie loves horses. She wants to learn how to ride, but her mother thinks 6 is a little too young, but she’s promised Frankie can get riding lessons for her next birthday.

But when their mother takes them out to their favorite pancake restaurant, she tells them that she’s sick. She has cancer and will have to get treatment, but she’ll get better. Zora picks up her pencil and draws her mom as a superhero, with boots and a cape, ready to take on cancer.

But ten months later, she’s still sick. In fact, she’s sicker than ever. They all had to move from their home in Duluth, Minnesota, to Pennsylvania, where her grandmother lives. Zora and Frankie are living with their grandmother while their mother is in the hospital. She keeps insisting she’s going to get better, but Zora wants her to face how sick she is. She draws Sick Mom, a realistic picture of how she looks in the hospital bed, and shows it to her mother.

That night, her grandmother gets the call from the hospital. Their mother died. Zora blames herself, thinking that it was the picture she drew that caused her death. She decides not to draw anymore. Then Frankie asks Zora if she’ll draw her a horse for her birthday. Zora tries, but she just can’t feel her Voom, so she traces one from one of Frankie’s horse books. But that just makes her feel worse, so she grabs her green pencil and starts to scribble all over it. Then she grabs one of her old drawings and scribbles that out too. And another. And another.

Frankie tries to stop her, but then the scribbles become real, growing out of the drawing, and coming for the sisters. As the scribbles get bigger and stronger, they wrap around the two sisters until they’re trapped. Zora doesn’t know what’s going on, and then she’s dropped, and she falls and falls and falls until she lands in something soft. Eventually she realizes it’s sand, but it’s not like any sand she’s ever seen before. As she pulls herself up, she realizes that it’s sand that she’s drawn. She tries to find Frankie, and the two of them look around. Everything is something that Zora has drawn.

She meets some of the creatures she’s drawn, from the hamsters in pajamas to a robot and a witch and so many horses. She finds out that they landed in Pencilvania, and it’s where all of Zora’s drawings go. It’s a place where they are happy. They play and dance and eat pancakes. But now there is a horse named Viscardi, a horse overtaken by the Scribs, who wants to destroy everything and everyone in Pencilvania.

The prophecy says that Zora will save them. That she is 200 feet tall and eats balloons and shoots lasers out of her eyes. But Zora knows that none of that is true. She’s not 200 feel tall. She doesn’t eat balloons. And her eyes don’t shoot lasers. And she doesn’t think she can save Pencilvania. She’s not even sure of she can herself and Frankie home.

But with her sister counting on her, with all the creatures she’s drawn needing her help, and knowing that both Super Mom and Sick Mom are somewhere in Pencilvania, Zora knows that if Pencilvania has any hope of surviving, it’s up to her. It is entirely her creation, after all. But will she be able to be The Girl of a Million Ideas who saves them all, or will she get scribbled out with all the rest of Pencilvania?

Author Stephanie Watson and illustrator Sofia Moore have created a powerful story of grief and healing in Pencilvania. These two sisters have their world turned upside down when they find out that their mother has cancer, and the changes to their lives that come from that leave them feeling lost and confused. Kids who have had to deal with major life changes, who have had to deal with a parent’s illness, who has dealt with grief will find understanding in these pages.

I thought Pencilvania was a really lovely story. The journey through the drawn universe, reminiscent of Milo’s journey in The Phantom Tollbooth or even Dorothy’s journey through Oz, is a lovely way of using Zora’s art to help her find healing and forgive herself for her last picture of her mother. This is not always an easy book to read, as the grief of these two sisters is heart-breaking, but the strength they find on their journey through Pencilvania is inspiring.

Egalleys for Pencilvania were provided by Sourcebooks Kids through NetGalley, with many thanks.

k, well I *adored* this book.

Besides being a pencil fanatic, I thought this was the perfect middle grade novel, and one I already know I'm going to be buying for my library and for friends.

The synopsis:

Ever since she first learned to hold a crayon, Zora Webb has been unstoppable. Zora draws hamsters wearing pajamas and balloons and Lake Superior and pancakes and hundreds of horses. Her drawings fill sketchbooks and cover the walls of the happy home she shares with Frankie and their mother.

But when Zora's mom is diagnosed with leukemia, everything changes. After months of illness, she dies, and with her goes Zora's love of creation. Desperate to escape the pain, Zora scribbles out her artwork. Her dark, furious scribbles lift off the page and yank Zora and Frankie into Pencilvania, a magical world that's home to everything Zora has ever drawn. And one drawing--a scribbled-out horse named Viscardi--is determined to finish the destruction Zora started.

Viscardi kidnaps Frankie, promising to scribble her and all of Pencilvania out at sunrise. Zora sets out to rescue her sister, venturing deep into Pencilvania--a place crawling with memories, dangers, and new friends. If she is to save Frankie, Zora will have to face the darkness that both surrounds her and is inside of her.

The illustrations are fantastic and fun. The writing is creative, engaging, and unique, and I was sucked into this story of grief and fantasy from page one.

SO well done. Five bright, shiny stars from me!

A big thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Kids and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. PENCILVANIA is out October 5th, 2021!

I received an electronic ARC from SOURCEBOOKS Kids through NetGalley.
Readers meet Zora and her younger sister, Frankie as their mom shares she has leukemia. Early on, they have to cope with their mother's death, moving to a different state, and living with a grandmother they don't know. Zora is a gifted artist who loses her ability with her mom's death. As the story unfolds, readers see why and take the journey with her as she finds a way to forgive herself and regain her desire and ability.
The fantasy element comes into play when the girls are pulled in to Pencilvania. After her anger overwhelms her, Zora begins destroying her drawings by scribbling over them. Much of the story takes place in this fantasy land made up of Zora's drawings come to life. Readers see how the various drawings stand for parts of healing for both Zora and Frankie. In the end, the two girls and their grandmother find a way to move forward forming a new unit together.
This was a quick and sweet read. I finished it in one sitting as the story flowed and the characters were realistic. Dealing with grief is a current theme in middle grade literature and this book strikes a sensitive tone.

This middle grade story gave me lots of Narnia vibes and that is always a good thing. I always appreciate a book for kids that deals with grief in a way that’s accessible and honest and this book does that.

It's a great tale about overcoming grief and about family. Zora's journey through Pencilvania helps her overcome the all encompassing grief left over from her mother's death and helps in accepting the changes in her life.

For a more detailed review checkout my blog : https://mlinamman.blogspot.com

*This review is based on a copy I received from NetGalley for an honest review.

This is a Middle Grade with Magical Realism/Fantasy. This book was so much fun to read, and I loved how this book covered the main character losing her Mother. This book made me think of "Alice in Wonderland" and "Harold and the Purple Crayon". I loved the characters in this book so much, and my favorite character was the horse with seven legs. The ending of this book was fill of action and then peace and love which I really loved. I think Children and Adults will both enjoy reading this book. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Sourcebooks Young Readers) or author (Stephanie Watson) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Different style of writing, the reader is really drawn into what is going on with the sisters, as told from their point of view. Doesn't shy away from the truth and what is going on. Then turns into a magical storytelling, with the drawings coming to life. Captures the attention of the reader.

A Wrinkle-in-Time-esque adventure for kids who like to draw. For me, the interest took a dip when she first got into her drawings. I had a bit of a difficult time with the world changing and suddenly becoming magical without much foreshadowing to indicate that could happen. The illustrations, which are true to the ability of the character, were, at least at first, hard to care about which made it hard to take the story seriously during her introduction to Pencilvania. It spends a lot of time- I would say too much time- connecting her drawings to memories of her mom, and instead of helping move the story or connect me with the character, I found it just annoying after a while. Once it moved past that, (around the baby lakes part), it began to get interesting again.
Despite these distracting aspects, it was a creative story and I did enjoy most of it.

Thanks NetGalley

Three words for PENCILVANIA: adorable, heart-wrenching, imaginative. Think of a lighter version of A MONSTER CALLS, with an extra pinch of sibling love and a whole lot more portal-world hijinks!

Stephanie Watson has done a phenomenal job of writing a book that balances fun and pain. Zora has recently lost her mother to leukemia, and her grief permeates every page; but when she's sucked into a world populated by her past drawings, she's also confronted by a motley cast of characters including a seven-legged horse, excitable hamsters, and soccer-playing sunshines. If this sounds like a child's fever dream, it absolutely is - Pencilvania shows all the aspects of an evolving childhood at once, in a form that is both bizarre and somehow TRUE. The illustrations form a crucial part of the overall story, enabling readers to visualize what's going on, and despite the seeming randomness, I found myself caring deeply about the wild, creative world Zora must explore.

Yet alas, I am a cynical adult, and Pencilvania is the type of world that doesn't quite stand under scrutiny. Why does the evil Viscardi want to scribble out the entire world, including (presumably) himself? Because ... he just does. What forces brought Zora and Frankie into Pencilvania now, in the first place? And how are we supposed to care about saving characters that (presumably) can be easily altered and fixed by Zora's pencil? Yes, this story is an extended metaphor about confronting and overcoming grief, but I struggled to completely buy into it. The events within Pencilvania are quite random and strung together in a typical "save the world, return home" narrative (prophecy included).

I'm also not sure I bought the overall message itself. If everything Zora (and anyone else!) draws ends up coming alive, then she cannot ever draw anything dark/scary/bad, lest it destroys Pencilvania like Viscardi almost did. If angrily scribbling on paper is cathartic, shouldn't that be ... okay? Yes, creation is better than distruction, but art can be an incredible outlet for exploring darker feelings. Sometimes we don't want to draw cute potato people. Sometimes we do want to draw angry things, and that shouldn't result in the destruction of a whole world.

So overall: PENCILVANIA is a fun, confidently written & illustrated exploration of creativity and grief. The premise does get shaky if you start to think too hard, but it's clear what Watson wanted to accomplish, and I think it will appeal widely to a younger MG audience.

This is an imaginative chapter book about two sisters who lose their mother to cancer. Zora and Frankie are devastated at their mother's death. Zora has always been artistic and expresses herself through drawing. She calls her creativity and abiblity to draw, her "Voom." After their mother's death, they found themselves in the imaginary world of all her drawings. They have to come together to fight off the villian in the imaginary world and find peace with their mother's death. Zora's find her "Voom" and is able to draw again.

As an upper elementary teacher, I found this book very hard to follow. In my opinion, it has way too many characters and a child would have a hard time keeping all of the characters straight while reading the book. Personally, I would not purchase a copy of this book for my classroom library.

You could use the book as a mentor text for talking about imagination, drawing, and vivid vocabulary though.

I was drawn to this due the concept of a world in which drawings come to life. What I found was a gentle, charming, sad-yet-hopeful story of grief and life after loss. Imaginative and well executed.

First sentence: Ever since she first learned to hold a crayon, Zora loved to draw.

Premise/plot: Pencilvania is Stephanie Watson's newest middle grade (fantasy) novel. Zora, our heroine, loves, loves, loves to draw--always has. But does that mean she always will? Her mom has a special word, VOOM, for describing when her daughter is in the zone and FEELING the art. Her mom appreciates her daughter's talent--some of Zora's drawings have become part of her mom's permanent collection. Frankie, her younger sister, also loves Zora's art. Especially when Zora draws horses for her. (Frankie loves, loves, loves horses).

But after her mom dies--of leukemia--Zora loses her voom. Every time she tries to draw, she ends up having a panic attack. On her sister's birthday, Zora tries one more time--for her sister--to draw. But that leads to a burst of anger leading to...well...the start of the adventure.

Pencilvania is the fantasy land our characters find themselves in. It is a land created--quite unintentionally in many, many ways--by Zora. EVERY drawing Zora has ever done--EVER, EVER--comes alive and lives in Pencilvania. From the earliest scribbles--the eeks--to the latest (a traced horse done the day of her sister's birthday) all are there. But all is not well in Pencilvania. TROUBLE is afoot.

Can Zora find a way to save the day?

My thoughts: While it isn't all that unusual for middle grade novels to handle grief in one way or another, I found the fantasy world of Pencilvania to be entirely unique. (Well, mostly). I love the premise! It's cute, adorable, relatable. I also thought it was clever. I loved the world-building! I loved that there was a SEVEN LEGGED HORSE, and that this horse is one of the central characters. I also loved, loved, loved the eeks--the earliest drawings, her stick figures, if you will. I loved the HAMSTERS IN PAJAMAS. There were plenty of little details that come together to create such a perfect fantasy world. (Like the thousands of baby lakes. Or how EVERY sun that she ever drew exists in this world so everything is always sunny!)

I liked the conflict as well. Everything just seems OH SO RIGHT about this novel.

I personally loved, loved, loved it. I did. I loved everything about it. I loved the relationship between Frankie and Zora. I loved the emotional journey--highs and lows. I loved how imaginative and creative it was. It balances a super fun premise with authentic feelings of grief. This book has plenty of heart. But it isn't a heavy, heavy novel.

Quotes:

“We gather here today,” said the hamster, “like every day, to celebrate our creator. To offer our gratitude for the magnificent world she has made!” All of the hamsters raised their balloon strings high, like torches.
“Well,” Airrol said, “as you looked at us, we looked back at you. Yours was the first face any of us ever saw. Everyone knows you created them, and they adore you for it.” In her mind’s eye, Zora saw the angry protesters by the Zoracle. “Not everybody adores me.” “True,” Airrol said. “But most of us do. And why wouldn’t we? You drew the whole of Pencilvania. Every creature, every blade of grass…” He looked up at the uneven puffs of white drifting overhead. “You drew the clouds, probably when you were just figuring out how make circles.
“Everything you draw gets to decide what it’s going to be and do in Pencilvania. When a drawing arrives, first they pick a name. To make it official, they tell the Zoracle. Then they get on with the business of being themselves.” “Wait, you named yourself?” Zora asked. “Naturally,” Airrol said. “It’s my name. I have to answer to it. Shouldn’t I pick it?”