ooo baby baby it's a wildwood

Huge stretch for a song, but not as far as some. Fantastic song!
As far as fantastic goes...Wildwood? Not so much. Wildwood is written by the ultra-hip singer Colin Meloy of the super-indie and even more ultra-hip, non-mainstream band The Decemberists from the completely liberal and oh so cool, bleeding-edge city of Portland.
It is no surprise that the main character Prue, age twelve, is a tween hipster and amazingly indie. She and her classmate Curtis must travel deep into the wilds of Oregon because Prue's little brother Mac was carried off by crows, last seen flying into the Impassable Wilderness, as this area is called. Curtis and Prue are split up and Curtis is found by the White Wit....oh no, I mean the Dowager Governess and she gives him Turkish Delig...no, I mean, wine, that makes him fall completely under her spell.
I found it amusing that when Prue is spared being discovered by an evil group of soldiers she, "was too busy counting out a thousand thank yous to the Fates, the Goddess, or whatever pantheon of deities had..." I thought it was hilarious, actually to be reminded oh so subtly that hip, ultra-liberal, cool, indie twelve year olds in Portland don't pray to God but pray to Fates, Goddesses, etc. It was just so totally predictable, and a little over-done on the "too hip to be into God" deal. But I was glad Meloy put it in there, because there really isn't much else that is funny about the book.
Another cool thing is that I listened to the book and the reader, Amanda Plummer, sounds SO much like Grease's Frenchy that it is so awesome! I keep thinking she is going to pierce Prue's ears! But conventional ear-piercing is SO not Portland, so I guess in this case, Frenchy would pierce Prue's eyebrow instead.

The thing is, the characters are all so unlikable that it is a shame they all can't lose this big battle they are fighting. Kind of like the GOP candidates. Every group is selfish and unbelievably rotten!

Prue is a terrible sister and her parents are so bad that Matilda would have thought her own parents were awesome compared to these two fools.

Wait...as I reflect on this book...I think I figured something out...this is a parody! Meloy didn't set out to right a real book, he is just making fun of the other books out there that are so much like this one, but it's all a joke! I feel SO much better! It's like The Hunger (but mainly death) Games!

I mean with lines like, "Over my dead body," said the King. Which is answered by...wait for it...

Alexandra smiled, "That can certainly be arranged." It is a parody!

Okay. I feel kinda foolish. Anyway, I am so glad this is over!

Still, if you do read it, listen to it. I SWEAR it's not Amanda Plummer reading it, it's Didi Conn as Frenchy and it is awesome!