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From School Library Journal

July 1, 2024

Gr 3-7-Almost-12-year-old Jerry uses a pink wheelchair, has a Yiddish-accented dragon named Paul, and lives with her widowed mother at the Slumbering Giant motel where Mama cleans rooms. Excessive bullying led to homeschooling, "which just means [she] read[s] a lot of books." She's made a new friend, Chapel, whose family's home recently burned down. Lately, Mama's day job has turned nightly, until one morning, she doesn't return. Jerry and Chapel must face demons, ghosts, and monsters to save Mama, and then their entire town. Newhouse earnestly enlivens debut author Metz's quirky cast-young and older, human and not. Metz, who also uses a wheelchair, writes with experienced understanding about being truly seen as disabled or different: Jerry's chair is obvious but isn't "weird" or "limiting"; ignoring Chapel's Blackness is neither equalizing nor accepting. VERDICT Netz and Newhouse provide a spookily entertaining lesson in bypassing easy assumptions.

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Horn Book

May 1, 2024
After the death of her father and the subsequent loss of their house, Jerry (almost twelve) and her mom drift from small town to small town, her mom finding work in motels because they accommodate Jerry's wheelchair. The latest motel, the Slumbering Giant, should be no different, only there are stories of ghosts and of people going missing, and a radio station broadcasts strange messages in the middle of the night. All of this is fascinating to Jerry and her imaginary pocket-sized dragon, Paul, until her mom, picking up extra work duties overnight, goes missing, and then Jerry, Paul, and new friend Chapel go on a hair-raising quest in the dark, mysterious woods. Netz's debut novel is part thrilling adventure in a fight against "demons," part mystery about the secrets hidden in the woods. It's also populated by an endearing cast of characters whose close relationships help carry them through strange encounters with monsters and mythical creatures. This unusual fantasy's casual inclusion of disability makes it stand out; Jerry's identities as Jewish and as a wheelchair user are well integrated into the story. Though she recounts previous experiences of discrimination from peers, nobody significant in her life doubts her capability or heroism -- and her wheelchair refreshingly proves to be an asset in multiple parts of the tale. Amanda R. Toledo

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From Booklist

March 1, 2024
Grades 3-6 Debut author Netz presents charismatic characters in a captivating, magical setting. Jerusha Eliana Blum, a white girl known as Jerry, has a genetic degenerative disease, which means she needs to use a wheelchair. After her father's death and losing their home, she and her mother arrive in Windy Pines, Georgia, where her mother has gotten a job helping to maintain a motel. An imaginary friend--a Yiddish-speaking dragon with pigeon wings named Paul--helps homeschooled Jerry cope with loneliness. Soon, the perceptive 11-year-old suspects her mother is working on something secret in the forest, and the town's history of missing people begins to worry Jerry. When she meets Chapel Bell, a Black sixth-grader living in the motel due to a house fire, they bond over being treated differently based on others' preconceived notions and become friends. When Jerry's mom disappears, Jerry and Chapel enter the forest to find her. With a satisfying emotional arc, Jerry's story sensitively tackles such topics as ableism and bullying, and her sharp intellect, paired with Paul's wit, adds humor and levity.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Kirkus

Starred review from January 15, 2024
A Jewish girl who uses a wheelchair faces demons when she and her mother move to a former mining town in Georgia. Ever since Daddy died and they lost their house, 11-year-old Jerusha (Jerry) and Mama have drifted from motel to motel. Moving so often makes it hard to make friends, but Jerry finds kids her own age "overrated"--especially after a bully at her last school pushed her down the stairs. Now homeschooled, Jerry prefers spending time with her books--and with Paul, her imaginary dragon. At first, the Slumbering Giant seems like every other motel they've stayed in. But then the radio starts broadcasting eerie messages such as "THEY'RE COMING" and "ALERT THE REST OF THE GUARDIANS." Plus, Mama's being unusually cryptic about her new housekeeping job and has secretly been venturing into the woods--where loggers have been disappearing and Jerry's forbidden to go. When Mama doesn't come home one morning, Jerry resolves to find her...and discovers that the woods are full of demons. Can Jerry and her new friend, Chapel, evade their pursuit and rescue Mama? Netz, also a wheelchair user, offers a refreshingly authentic depiction of physical disability, vividly describing Jerry's maneuvers, the obstacles she encounters, and the advantages of vanquishing demons while in a wheelchair. Readers will empathize with Jerry's loneliness, while Paul's droll, Yiddish-peppered commentary adds humor. Jerry and Mama are cued white; Chapel is Black. An action-packed, heartwarming tale of friendship, family, monsters, and magic. (Paranormal adventure. 8-12)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Publisher's Weekly

Starred review from December 4, 2023
Grit and compassion bolster this exhilarating folkloric adventure by debut author Netz. After a period of upheaval following the death of her father, disabled 11-year-old Jerry Blum and her mother settle at the Slumbering Giant Motel in rural Georgia. There, Jerry's mother begins a new job while Jerry acclimates herself to the relatively wheelchair-friendly environment. Bored and lonely, Jerry grows suspicious of her mother's mysterious new gig, which sends her into the nearby woods where loggers have recently disappeared. Accompanied by her imaginary Yiddish-speaking dragon friend Paul, Jerry embarks on an investigation. Much of this bewitching story hinges on the formidable nerve and charisma of the Jewish, olive-skinned protagonist, whose adventure takes on a positive spin after she befriends Chapel Bell, a Black sixth grader living in the motel with her family following a house fire. The two girls bond over being treated differently and, after Jerry's mother vanishes, find themselves lost in the woods and vulnerable to the shadowy creatures that dwell there. Using vivid supernatural phenomena to facilitate deep human connection, Netz crafts a succinct tale with memorable characters, a fearsome mythology, and dark charm. Ages 8—12.