Windswept is a fairy tale that those non-fairy tale reading mglit fans will dig

An anthology doesn’t always have to be allegorical. Windswept is a fantasy book that combines elements of those two categories into something that also crosses over in fables and fairy tales. To add to the trippy attitude of the book it has the all-seeing eye that’s firmly placed below a tree. And this is before you know anything about the plot, which is about children being literally swept away by the winds, never to be seen again.

Thus the title, Windswept, is where the children go when they venture outside and this has been happening for a long time. Being outside is forbidden, there are signs up everywhere warning children not to be outside. Those kids that don’t get windswept treasure their glances at the blue sky from inside their homes. It would be a different thing if they had the internet, but they don’t, and even books are very difficult to come by.

Tag is the only one of four siblings that remains in the house. She was given that name by her older sisters because she always tagged along with them during their indoor playtime. She vaguely remembers her three sisters who were windswept seven years earlier. Tag opened the usually locked door, saw a torrent of dust, leaves, and sticks, and suddenly they were gone.

Kids fantasize about where their siblings and friends disappear to when they get windswept and Tag is no exception. One day when her mom goes out for some errands she discovers a secret entrance into the attic, where a window and a possible entrance into the outside exist. In the attic, she discovers a book on fairy tales, a ribbon that brings back memories and just might hold power. There’s also a bed sheet, which just might be long enough to reach the ground from the attic window.

Being a teenager, Tag is curious and ventures out of the window, quickly running into the forest before the wind picks up. It’s not too long before she enters the thicket that she hears voices from the trees guiding her along the way. But, are they friends or merely the candy at the end of the hook that the winds use to capture the children?

Windswept is a blend of a fairy tale that feels like it comes from another time. The motley crew that Tag teams up with each has their own unique skill set, like a more evenly paced Lost Boys from Peter Pan. The book is also being read by someone, a la an anthology, so just when the action goes to a crux, the person who is telling the tale might have a conversation with their bookmate.

The fact that the kids are disappearing provides a big, underlying sense of evil that carries Windswept. Are the adults just making it up so that the kids stay inside? Is it an alliance that the adults made with an overlord in order to protect the greater population? It’s age-appropriate dread and mysterious. There is a certain haze that permeates the scenes as you read them. Even as Tag is entering the otherwise clear forest, the uncertainty that surrounds her provides a big sense of foreboding that the book addresses.

It’s a fairy tale that takes its time and collects influences from around the world as the payoff for what happened to the kids is revealed. This is also a book that fairy tale reluctant readers will enjoy if they give it a chance. All fairy tales aren’t simple sentences with like-looking short minions who sing songs. Some are trippy, hazy experiences with enough danger and adventure that serve as a big payoff to those upper elementary and middle school readers.

Windswept is by New York Times Bestselling Author and Newberry Honor Winner Margi Preus and is available on Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams Books.

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