Notes from The Radical Reader:

• Noble Characters: Eleven-year-old Lydia Green will remind readers of other classic heroines like Anne Shirley and Laura Ingalls Wilder. Lydia’s gentle love for Mulberry Glen and its people leads her to brave the unknown of the Valleylands in an attempt to rescue her friends from the Darkness. Along the way, she discovers that not all change is bad. In fact, just like the flowers and herbs grown at her home in Mulberry Glen, change is necessary for growth.
• Captivating Plots: Rumors of the growing Darkness have been stealing into the Valleylands. And try as Lydia does to ignore them, two of her friends are enthralled by the story and decide to go save the world. I loved the allegorical elements that were woven into the story, especially the theme that comes to light towards the end of the book: “Omnis Res Mundi (All the things of the world) cannot fill an empty heart”. 
• Elaborate Worlds: Beyond Mulberry Glen has a starkly softer feel than many fantasy adventure books I’ve read. From Garder’s cottage and Mulberry Glen to Tower Valley and the Tinted Lands, young readers will find themselves delighted with the story of Lydia Green’s journey to defeat the Darkness and the shocking realization Lydia makes when she realizes what the Darkness truly is.