The Fearless Travelers Guide to Wicked Places

Last Updated on June 20, 2023 by ellen

I love reading young adult books and The Fearless Travelers Guide to Wicked Places was just the type of book I like. When I was younger, I spent hours daydreaming about magical places like the world in this book. 

The Fearless Travelers Guide to Wicked Places

Twelve-year-old Nell Perkins knows there is magic at work that she can’t yet understand. Her mother has been taken by witches and turned into a bird. Nell must journey to get her mother back, even if it takes her deep into the Wicked Places ― the frightening realm where Nightmares resides. There she must break the spell and stop the witches from turning our world into a living nightmare.

My thoughts:

Nell has always known she was different from everyone else. From as long as she remembers, she sees the animals that people really are. In her town, mothers are disappearing and Nell believes that a dark silver cloud is behind it all. Her Mother is stolen by the witches and turned into a bird. Nell has to journey into Dreamland to the Wicked Places to get her mother back before it’s too late.

Like many young adult books, this story is more than a story, it’s a lesson. It’s a lesson about being able to tell the difference between what we see and what really is. In the book, Nell and her brothers begin to understand that what they see may not really be what they think it is. They learn to trust their instincts and to decide who to really trust.

I had a great time reading this book. Ultimately, it reminded me of a cross between the Narnia books and Alice in Wonderland. The Fearless Travelers Guide to Wicked Places by Pete Begler will take any reader on a magical journey they won’t forget.

Buy The Fearless Travelers’ Guide to Wicked Places (Capstone Young Readers).