-middle grade
-climate fiction
-emotional sister relationships
-giving The Giver and City of Ember vibes
-of course it made me cry

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for a review copy

A story for middle grade readers that allows them to connect to the fictional characters while being education on themes such as power, inequality, and control. The main character Erie lives with so many burdens weighing her down while simultaneously having normal thoughts and feelings as a normal twelve year old which allows any young reader to relate to Erie and emphasize with her experience. They will be able to think about how they would feel to be living in the same world as Erie. A great book to spark discussion with young readers!

The future of dystopian fiction appears to be in middle grade and I am here for it. Cole's book presents us with a future dealing with ecological disaster. We have a world falling apart and characters trying to figure out how to live in it while others take advantage of the chaos to conceal oppression. A savvy reader will suss out what is going on in this book pretty quickly, but that isn't a big barrier. The book is as much about a family trying to find their way forward, to heal the brokenness between them, as it is about revealing what is being done to the town.

This has such an interesting premise! I was fascinated with the different scientific inventions, especially the lockwood itself. There are some big reveals in here that I didn’t see coming. There is also quite a bit of LGBTQIA+ representation, which is nice to see. Overall, this is a great introduction to young readers as to why we should care about our environment, no matter what age we might be.

Where the Lockwood Grows is like a darker, more mature City of Ember. The story follows in the aftermath of wildfires that weaked havoc on the Earth. Where, as a result of the fires, the lockwoods were made. Erie is one of many young children tasked with cutting back the lockwoods that both keep out the fires but also sunlight and regrows each night. Erie was both enjoyable yet infuriating at times as a character to follow. And while I wasn't surprised by any of the reveals, I do believe they were very well executed. I just wish there had been an epilogue to give insight into where some of the other characters ended up or how things panned out a few years later.

The raging fires of California sparked the engineering of a plant that will not burn. Thus the advent of the lockwood. . It doesn’t burn, but it does grow incredibly fast and must be cut back every morning if the town of Prine is to receive any light from the sun.

Only the smaller children can fit through the dense overhead vines to cut away enough each day for survival. When you become two big to fit among the branches you spend your day harvesting the Lockwood pods on the ground. Each week, FOLROY, the company responsible for the plant, sends their trucks from the wealthy city of Petrichor to pick up the pods and pulp, paying the townspeople a pittance.

This dystopian novel is set in an unspecified future time, and follows 12-year-old Erie, who was named after one of the two Great Lakes that hasn’t dried up yet and her 16-year-old sister, Hurona, who was named after the other. The experimental town of Prine was created with the fireproof, human-invented lockwood, planted after the devastating Arborklept fire.

Life in Prine is pretty grim as the youngest risk their lives in the canopy to save their existence. One day Hurona and Erie discover something sinister about the lockwood, and smuggle themselves to Petrichor to find the scientist who developed it hoping she can do something to help Prine residents. Soon we find there is also another reason for this dangerous venture to Petrichor.

This novel has such an interesting premise and is filled with surprising twists.
Until the setting moved to Petrichor I found the book to be little slow, but after that hold on!

The characters are examples of those who will stand up for justice and and aren’t afraid to challenge these more powerful.

This was such an adventure! I loved our setting and story, there were so many important messages sprinkled throughout. I loved the unique premise of this as well.

This is a wonderful and impactful tale of a young girl trying to survive and find her place in a dystopian style world of Prine. The clever character names and captivating world draw you into the story first. FOLROY dropping off food reminded me of Wilder Girls and made me even more skeptical of them. Little details like that truly made the book sing. The concept of trying to remain skinny for society was so strong and beautifully written to paint how problematic that can be especially for young girls. I'm so curious about the Great Lakes drying up because Superior dried up first despite its size. The main characters love for bugs reminded me of Together We Rot in a way I really loved. The reveal two thirds in - my jaw was on the floor!

This is a great book. Not only is it a beautiful story, but there is a lot of intelligent subtext. Environmentally conscious. Anti-corporation. Socially aware—with a broad spectrum of character diversity. There are even some great mini lessons on government and economy—just little pops of information so well blended into the story that you hardly notice they are there.

While some of the topics in this book might be heavy, the tone is hopeful and upbeat. This book is a real celebration of Earth and family, with a very stiff nod towards nonconformity/individuality (of which I heartily approve). I was fighting back the tears by the end.

P.S. Be sure to read the Acknowledgments at the end of this book. Even that brought tears to my eyes.

It's been a tough year for science fiction stories, so I was so glad to come across this one. Where the Lockwood Grows manages to be a powerful story of a character coming into their own while also being a science fiction story of a near future, combining both technological problem solving and exploitation. I kept turning pages to the end of the story and was delighted with the level of imagination and world building going on while representing many of the kinds of issues people are struggling with today.

I loved this book. I was hooked from the beginning. Erie and Hurano are such great characters and we slowly see their personalities and their relationships come to life.
The Town of Prime and the Lockwood was so interesting. A vine that can stop fire? Wouldn't that be great to have. But it's literally suffocating their town and the kids have to go up and cut it back everyday.
I liked the relationship that the girls have with their mom, even though there are some secrets being kept from each of them.
Their mom, is brave and strong but has lost her confidence.
There were some shockers in here that I wasn't expecting! But they were so good!
I liked the look at things that are happening with climate change that were not so much talked about in your face, but pointed out throughout.
Hurano and Erie make some great friends along their adventure. I liked seeing the different families and different representation.
I think a lot of the middle graders at my library will like this book. It has so much to offer, a little bit of adventure, mystery, suspense, and real feelings.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I requested a digital copy in order to sample the prose on my phone (since I don't have a eReader) before requesting a physical copy for review. My review will be based on the physical ARC I read (if I qualify)