A unique story that provides the history behind the story of the Windeby Girl, a bog body with a mysterious backstory.
Before I get to the review, I must admit that I have never read a Lois Lowry book until now. So I had zero expectations going into this reading, only that they are well known and popular among middle school library patrons. That being said, wow, I have never read a book like this before and probably never will again. I am so excited to put this book on my shelf, but have no idea where to place it. Is it fully fiction, non-fiction? I don't know! This will be a wonderful resource in the classroom. Students can learn about the Windeby Girl through the wonderful story weaved by Lowry, and then utilize researched facts and information to further their education. This is an exciting story that I was not aware of until reading this. Children and adults alike will be blown away by Lowry's newest story.

The Windeby Puzzle
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The Windeby Puzzle by Lois Lowry (HarperCollins); set to be published 2/14/2023
I received an eARC copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Summary
I don't think I've ever read a book for kids quite like this one. It's a blend of fiction and non-fiction that is really unique and well done. It starts with the author (Lois Lowry) describing the discovery of a child's body in a peat bog in Germany. This body, given the name "The Windeby Girl", is believed to have lived during the Iron Age. Lowry is fascinated and imagines a life for that child, a girl she names Estrild. However, new scientific analysis later reveals the body to be a boy; so Lowry reimagines the story with the boy, Varick, from Estrild's story. Interwoven between the stories, Lowry includes "History" sections where she explains her purpose, and her methods, and offers context to some of the historical settings.

Creation
Life in the Iron Age has clear and distinct gender roles. Men are the warriors, the bard (storyteller who reminds the villagers of their history), and the druids (religious leaders). Women take care of the children, tend to the house, provide for the needs of their families, and help to work the land.
Varick's story has a more positive tone, and I attribute that to his love for and observation of nature. Varick is often isolated because of his disability; he uses that time alone to learn about the world around him. He makes careful studies of animal skeletons he finds, is an avid bird watcher, and shares his knowledge of the natural world with Estrild.

Fall
Life in the Iron Age is enormously difficult, and each person's life is marked by hard work and a struggle for survival. In Eden, God's intention was that humanity would enjoy and cultivate the garden; Adam and Eve's sin, however, meant that humanity would have to toil and struggle in their work (Genesis 3:17). The Iron Age defines this struggle and Varick's story in this book personifies it. His mother dies giving birth to him, and his father leaves him to be raised by another in the village. He is crippled and weak, and so has seemingly no place to occupy in this life of necessary hard work. He receives only nominal kindness from everyone except Estrild. This is not the life God intended for His people to have.
The religion practiced by the people in Estrild and Varick's village is one of idolatry and blood sacrifice. The druids slaughter animals often to ascertain what their gods would have them do. The gods they worship are also described on several occasions as being difficult to please, with bad tempers that they use to punish the people. Whether it's their religious practices or just the day-to-day struggles they face, these people have no hope. At one point, Estrild dares to say out loud that she believes things will be better in their village after a difficult winter; her mother immediately tells her not to talk that way and potentially anger their gods.
There is a distinct inequality between men and women in the village. Women have one role in this society- to be a wife, have a brood of children, and take care of the house and all the people within it. Estrild dares to imagine that she could be a warrior; the village elders kill her for trying. When Estrild asks her mother why women can't be druids, her mother replies that it's too difficult for them to learn the complicated arts. There is no exception for a woman to do anything other than the one prescribed function in this village. God created all humanity to reflect His creative nature by engaging in their own creative work. The directions to fill and subdue the earth in Genesis 1 were given to both the man and the woman. The Proverbs 31 woman engages in a wide variety of tasks both in and out of her home, leading her husband and her community to respect what she's capable of.

Restoration & Redemption
Estrild and Varick's friendship in both stories seeks to balance the harsh realities around them. Varick teaches Estrild how to perform like a warrior without ever questioning her abilities. She shows kindness to him when everyone else ignores him or is cruel to him.
Lois Lowry shows incredible care and sensitivity to whoever this child really was. Her care becomes a desire to give a voice to this unidentified, unknown, and unremembered child. As she describes it, no matter what story she wrote, the character had to die. But she isn't cruel. The stories she creates, the feelings, thoughts, and personalities of Estrild and Varick feel like a memorial to childhood that is timeless. Even the way she adjusts the story once she learns of the discovery that the body is a boy feels like its own mini act of redemption.

Family Applications
Varick makes very careful observations of the animals he sees. He knows birdsong, observes animal behavior, and studies animal anatomy. Go on a walk and see what you can observe of animal life. Or go to a local nature center and learn about wildlife local to your area.
Celebrate the ways you (or kids you know) are just the right type of male or female as God created. Celebrate ways you fit into gender norms or ways you don't.
Take a day and find an activity to do that doesn't fit into gender stereotypes. Maybe take girls to play paintball, or boys to an art museum. Talk about what new things would be fun to try that aren't inherently masculine or feminine.

Praise God for The Windeby Puzzle
God, thank you that even though we live in a sinful world, much of the hardship of the Iron Age is over. Thank you we live in a world with clean water, refrigerators, and lots of other things that make life a little easier. And thank you, also, for the way you created us to be boys or girls. Show us ways we can bring you glory and reflect your image no matter what we choose to do or enjoy. Amen.

This is all about expectations. If you’re hoping snuggle up with the next great novel from Lois Lowry, you’ll probably be disappointed. If, on the other hand, you’re interested in a peek into her process, then you’re much more likely to enjoy The Windeby Puzzle.

Note: I have vague reservations about the disability rep. I’ll hold off on recommending this to kids until the disabled community has weighed in.

This was… interesting. Lowry takes readers on a journey imagining what life might have been like for the Windeby Bog body, a 2,000 year old body of a youth found extremely well preserved from the Iron Age.

Lowry starts out telling the reader about the Windeby bog body, and then follows with a short story about the event that may have proceeded the death. Then, Lowry goes back to science to talk about what scientist have learned since it was first discovered, and then tells another story.

This was a very unusual way to tell a story and I found it fascinating and unfulfilling since I was expecting a full story. I think this would be an excellent book to read in a classroom, or with kids as part of a homeschooling project.

First sentence: Cool wind. Day start. One bird a-twitter. Warblers newly back now, settling in, after winter in a warmer place. Planting time soon. Then the birds would be everywhere: noisy, pecking for the seeds, for the insects. Eggs in the nests: speckled eggs they were, the warblers' nests in the high grasses. Dark, still. But the land was alive: waking, whistling with breeze through the grasses and murmuring with creatures emerging from sleep. 

Premise/plot: The Windeby Puzzle is a blend of history and fiction. [I did NOT know this heading into the book. Because it does effect the pacing and flow of the narrative, potential readers should know this up front]. Lois Lowry lets readers into the process--her craft--of writing a new book. 

This book was inspired by discovery of the Windeby bog body back in the 1950s in Northern Germany. For decades--literally decades--it was assumed to be the body of a thirteen year old girl. New research, however, have shifted conclusions. It is now believed to be the body of a malnourished/sickly sixteen year old boy. Lowry alternates HISTORY and fiction. 

The first history-fiction section assumes that it is a thirteen-year-old girl. Lowry creates the character of Estrild. What led to her death? Was she a human sacrifice? Was she executed? If she was executed, then what was her crime? What would her life have been like? The second history-fiction section takes a turn. If the bog-child-body was a boy, what was HIS story???? Varick was a character--Estrild's best friend--from her first story. But this time around, he is the star of the show. What was HIS life like? What led him to the bog?

Both fictional stories are set in the Iron Age. 

My thoughts: I can honestly say that The Windeby Puzzle is unlike Lowry's previously published children's books. I've read plenty of them--though not all of them. It isn't really similar to any other children's books I've read either. That is neither good nor bad. (It just is.) 

Will it appeal more to adults than children? Maybe. Will it appeal to children at all? I don't know. It's set in ancient history--the Iron Age, and in Northern Germany. The blend of history and fiction is unique. But is it unique in a way that is likely to make children--elementary, middle grade--excited to pick it up and keep turning pages???? I don't know. I suppose if you've got someone in your life that is interested in archaeological digs, ancient cultures, and ancient history, perhaps. OR if perhaps someone who really wants to understand author craft. In getting a glimpse of HOW a story comes together and how the author works to bring her book to life. This book is definitely taste-specific! Will it appeal to adults? Again, I can't say that it is one that would automatically have broad appeal. The author is incredibly gifted and prolific. There will be some readers--perhaps myself included--who will read ANY title Lowry publishes no matter the subject matter, no matter the reviews, just because ANY book has to be good, right???

I am curious to see the reviews start coming in for this one. I am. (I am not always.) Will readers like it? love it? hate it? Find it dull or boring? Or will they find all the nerdy details fascinating? 

Personally, I preferred HIS story to her story. I did not need [yet another] story of a [young] girl who was a feminist over a thousand years ahead of her time who was going to make a stand because girls [and women] have rights and should be treated equally. Those stories always seem out of place, and Lowry admits that her characterization is way out there and not at all realistic. Both stories are set first century AD.

I love this author so much, but the format of this book was not my favorite.

The author spoke directly to the reader at first, sharing history facts and how she developed the story. Then there was a story section, then another part with the author speaking, and then another story.

The story sections were well developed and instantly hooked me, but the author sections were informative but not my favorite.

Overall it was still an enjoyable story, And it was interesting to learn about the real history and why the author wanted to imagine these stories, but I still prefer her other books to this one.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for an advanced copy of Windeby Puzzle by Lois Lowry.
This book had a very strange and and confusing structure. I didn't enjoy it myself and I don't see many middle grade readers enjoying it either. But, if anyone has earned the right to do something different and experimental, I feel it's Lois Lowry. That at least makes me happy for her.

I've been a fan of Lois Lowry since middle school when I first read classics like The Giver, Anastasia Krupnik, and Number the Stars, so naturally, I was eager to pick up this new release, regardless of what it was about. The structure and topic were a bit out of the ordinary, and I was definitely thrown off when, halfway through, Lowry abruptly leaves the character we've been getting to know and tells the same story from a different character's perspective. Without giving spoilers, this was a sad book, but at the same time, I thought it was an inventive and original way to explore the question of what happened to the found "bog body."

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC.

Thank you NetGalley, Harper Collins Children's Books, and Lois Lowry for the opportunity to read this e-ARC!

This book was really unlike any other book I've picked up in a long, long time. It tells two stories of what might have been: Estrild, a young girl preparing to become a warrior, and Varick, an orphan boy teaching himself about the human body through keen observation.

Inspired by an actual 2,000 year old Windeby bog body, this story weaves together who the young person might have been 2,000 years ago along with Lois Lowry's personal narration of her interpretation (the story is broken into five parts, with "history" narration in between each fictional part/story).

At first, I was unsure whether or not this narration was meant to be from the author, or some other (possibly unreliable) narrator, but I've settled on the fact that it was Lois Lowry all along and it was really interesting to hear her thoughts about constructing the story.

The blend of history and fiction was quite spell-binding and while it was a quick read, it will stick with me!

The Windeby Puzzle is Lois Lowry’s imaginings for what a mummified bog body would’ve experienced in the time it was alive and how its life may have ended.

This book was interesting but didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I feel that the marketing for this book would have to be very effective for this to be a successful book. I don’t think this book will be successful defined as a “pre-teen” novel. It would be better placed in an anthology or just never published and reimagined into a longer more developed novel. It’s format lends itself to an essay like reading experience, which was very unexpected and kind of off putting. I’d prefer maybe an authors note at the beginning that may have explained the historical context and then a fiction imagining of the past to this “bog body”. I also think that instead of having two different characters it would have been more impactful to have picked one perspective either the male or female character and elaborated more in-depth so the reader had a chance to become more emotionally invested before dispatching the character. For example, I felt more for Estrild’s mother than I did for Estrild, in the final scene. I also believe using a preexisting character from Estrild’s storyline to tell another story of the same body was cheap. On further research I actually discovered that there was another bog body found not far from Windeby I, and it would’ve been more interesting had Lois Lowry maybe combined that body into a storyline or had that been a preexisting character from Estrild’s story, in that way the reader would’ve been able to see the perspective of another tribesmen and the aftermath of Estrild’s actions.

Basically, this fell extremely flat for me and the missed potential for a great story was frustrating.

"Each one of us has a story. I do, you do..."

This is the main core of the book. I was excited about it but it isn't one of my favorites by the author.

I get the message but I couldn't connect. We used to be sucked into a mood or world with her books but in this one, I felt I was being lectured. Also didn't like the format of it (the parts as presented) Here is story number one... Then facts. Here isstory number two...

The story uses a historical find (a mummy- Windeby girl/boy) to compare the lives of the past to what kind of lives (freedom/ acceptance) they could have had in the present. Feminist, activist, political lecturing.

At least I am grateful that the author gave us a female and male version of the "possibility" of who this child was and not just female.

If a teacher wants to make a lesson on the roles of females and males during times with a focus on an archeologist find then this is the good book to spark discussion.

I'm the biggest Lois Lowry fan there is since I met her at an ALA annul conference. I was thrilled by the opportunity to talk with her about "Gossamer". I've understood since then that true artists, like Lowry, don't operate on the same plane as the rest of us. This title, The Winedby Puzzle, is typical of authors like Lowry who are so well-regarded and awarded that they can write anything that interests them and get published. They're writing for themselves, not an under 14 y/0 audience. The fact-based origin story is on NO ONE's radar, and Lowry's fitionalization is too dense and serious to be appealing. Sorry, but this title is a hard sell to anyone who 's not a history geek or heard of this story. I can't imagine book-talking this in the stacks to anyone 14 years old or under. A well-researched misfire.

This book was just not was I was expecting. I’ve read other books by Lowry, and really loved them. However, this one was not very enjoyable for me…

This is marketed as a children’s book, and it is most definitely not. There are many disturbing descriptions of animals and bones in various parts of the book.

While I enjoy history, I found the story parts of this book to be either disturbing or extremely boring.

The Windeby Puzzle, is a different book from most written for middle grades. It’s historical fiction so the author gives a brief non fiction introduction about where she has drawn her inspiration for the story she has written. Bog mummies are then introduced and one specifically being a young girls body that was discovered. Then thoughts and conjectures are made as to why this girl died at such a young age and how her life led to her untimely demise. After this introduction the reader is introduced to the characters of Estrild and Varick. Two seemingly outcast children of the village. This book goes on to expound on the story of Estrild and how she eventually dies in the bog. After it is revealed that the bog mummy was in fact a boy and the story once again is picked up with the same two characters but then Varick is the one who passes away at the end. The story overall had parts where certain things that are said and done by the characters could be used to further discussion. I would not recommend this book to a child though, the first chapter is dry and I don’t think they would be able to make it through the brief history lesson before the short stories after began.

Don't let the new format of this book be a deal breaker for you. It isn't written in the past formats we are used to seeing from this author (as in the Giver quartet), but this is written in a multiple part format. First, you have a background section about what bog mummies are, and you get specific information on the few possible ways a person can end up that way. Then, the author chose one to elaborate on and tell her story. There's a wrap-up section for that part, a natural stopping place for classroom teachers by the way, and then she moves on to the next one, which is that they discovered the mummy was actually the opposite gender (not gender fluid, just using different types of technology science didn't have when it was first discovered caused them to have it misidentified). There are discussion questions, and quotes pulled out at the end to reflect on with the page number marked. I think it's a good way to introduce students to historical fiction, and perhaps even get them to do their own extensions for the mummies' stories.

THE WINDEBY PUZZEL was... something. I really enjoyed this story. It has the magical realism that we've all known that Lois Lowry can produce. It was suspenseful and I really enjoyed both narratives, and the setting was also super intriguing!

Lowry introduces readers to the discovery of the Windeby child, a body preserved in a bog for thousands of years, and launches into a book that is combination history and story. Lowry intersperses the stories of Estrild and Varick with her own narrative of research about the Windeby child and imaging what the story of that child might have been. Both stories in this book are just that, short stories, and both function with tight narrative ARCs but the endings of both, the inevitable death that Lowry is writing towards, ultimately feels rushed and unsatisfying in both cases. The meta-fictive elements of this book, where Lowry discusses her writing and research process are interesting, but ultimately feel as though they will fail to grab the interest of a middle grade reader and the stories don't feel captivating enough without the "History" sections of the book to drive them. This book did have excellent backmatter.

Ultimately, I was left to ask who the audience is for this book? It feels like adults who recognize Lowry as an author with star-power will purchase this book (for kids and library collections). While this might be perfect for the right kid, this book ultimately feels like adult readers will walk away the most satisfied.

Lois Lowry has written a book that is actually a conversation with the reader about the inspiration for writing, the research that followed, and the two fictional narratives that she created as she synthesized her research and let her imagination take her in two different directions. She’s created something of a new genre with The Windeby Puzzle, as the fictional narratives that comprise most of the book are just two examples of the imaginative interpretations that could be generated from the archeological evidence that piqued Lowry’s curiosity. If I taught Middle School writing, I might use this book as an example of how an author uses real life to spin imaginative tales and invite the young writers to see where the archeological finds that inspired Lowry might take them.

This is a miserable book.. There is a forward that explains that the story will be about a bog mummy and what a bog mummy is. Though well-written, this is slow-moving and will not engage the pre-teen audience this book is meant for. But perhaps that is a blessing. Maybe the kids will bail before reading any more.

The first story is of a girl named Estrild who aspires to be the first woman warrior in a patriarchal society. She befriends Varick, a sensitive, intelligent, disabled orphaned boy who the village allows only the most meager existence possible to help her learn the warrior ways. When she dresses as a warrior to try to show the council of elders her interest and readiness, she is shorn, shamed, blindfolded, and thrown in the bog. I honestly do not want any of my students reading that regardless of its possible historical accuracy. The message it sends is do not be true to yourself, because doing so will put you in grave danger.

But if that weren't bad enough, there is another author's note saying wait! They've done DNA analysis on this mummy and it turns out the mummy is male. So you know what's next: they're going back for Varick. He dies trying to save the Forger, a man who paid him no mind while using him as an assistant.. Varick goes out in a storm to practice setting a hip joint on a fallen cow so he can help the Forger who has dislocated his own hip joint.. Sickened by his exposure to the cold and largely ignored by the villagers, he stumbles off in a delirious dream fugue to throw himself into the bog. This second story sends an equally awful message: If you are different, no one will help you, and it will be your undoing.

Why would anyone want children to read this?

Normally, I love Lois Lowry's work, ever since I read the Giver as a child. I was really excited to be approved for the e-ARC and began reading as soon as I could. While I enjoyed the book, I was left a little disappointed and confused.

Instead of telling Estrild (or Varick's story), she told different stories for each and added a lot of extra exposition. This divided the book into basically 6 sections- intro exposition about finding the Windeby Bog Girl, Estrild's story, continued exposition noting the change of Windeby Bog Girl to Windeby Bog Boy, then Varck's story, further exposition about the two, then finishing with finishing with bioliography and information about other things from the stories. This story structure was really off putting. I felt like it contributed to the abrupt endings of both Estrild and Varick's stories, What I read of their stories I liked, but I'd have loved for them to be fleshed out more.

I did love the inclusion of the extra material including the bibliography and information about shields, other figures from the Iron age, and the owl.