ARC Review: The Shelterlings by Sarah Beth Durst

The Shelterlings
Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Publication: Clarion Books (June 21, 2022)

Description: A group of magical misfit animals learns to appreciate their seemingly useless powers—and themselves—when they work together to thwart a villain’s attempt to steal their magic.

Holly, a grey squirrel, and her animal friends have accepted that they will never be wizards’ familiars. Though they are each magical, their powers are so offbeat—Holly herself can conjure pastries (and only pastries)—that no professional magic-worker would choose any of them as a companion for noble quests. So instead of going on adventures, they languish at the Shelter for Rejected Familiars, where they are known as “shelterlings.”

When an old friend appears with a plan for curing the shelterlings’ defective magic, everyone is on board to help him locate and retrieve the ingredients for a powerful spell. But when they learn that his offer is not what it seems, Holly and the shelterlings must fight to defend their magic, discovering in the process that their unorthodox skills may just be what is needed to save the day.

My Thoughts: This was an exciting and entertaining middle grade fantasy. Holly, a gray squirrel, is one of a group of magical misfits whose unusual magical abilities make them unsuitable to work as wizard's companions. Holly and her best friend Gus, an owl who can turn to stone, are just a couple of the residents of the Shelter for Rejected Familiars.

All of the animals traveled to the magic pool in the hopes of becoming a wizard's familiar and going on adventures and doing heroic deeds. Holly and the others are disappointed and distressed to be rejected. But Holly is an optimistic sort of squirrel who is making the best of her new home. She's made friends with the other residents and is helping them perfect their magical abilities. Holly, herself, can conjure up pastries - muffins, croissants, and other baked treats. There's a turtle with super speed but slow reactions who keeps crashing into things. There's a gecko who can inflate like a balloon and float. There's a cow who makes prophecies - which are always wrong. 

When a new resident comes, Holly tries to make her feel at home. Periwinkle is a lemur who finds lost things. Unfortunately, the thing's owners don't always agree that the things were lost and call her a thief. Despite her prickly personality, Holly wants to befriend her and help her fit in. 

Then Charlie, a beaver whose magical talent is manifesting cut flowers, comes back to the house and asks the familiars to help him find some magical ingredients that he says will help all of the with their magic. He wants to recast the original spell on the magic pool. The familiars are excited to help Charlie.

Holly gets involved in a number of the quests and her courage, ingenuity and friendliness makes them successful. But she begins to think that Charlie might have an ulterior motive that he isn't sharing with the rest of the familiars. 

While I'm not usually a fan of talking animals, I did enjoy this story. I really liked Holly's character. She was such a wonderful person with integrity and curiosity and a quiet heroism. Middle grade fantasy fans will find much to enjoy in this engaging story. 

Favorite Quote:

"You're only a failure if you quit," Holly said, thinking of Cerulean. "Until then, you're someone who hadn't succeeded yet."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.