CRESS WATERCRESS

CRESS WATERCRESS by Gregory Maguire

Cress Watercress (protagonist's name) by Gregory Maguire (author of the very popular Wicked series which inspired the Broadway musical) is the story of a young bunny coming of age. After her father goes out one night and doesn't come back, her mother knows something has happened to him and moves Cress and Kip (her younger brother) to a new home. Their new home is the basement apartment in a run down hollow tree called Broken Arms. Also inhabiting Broken Arms is the landlord owl, a family of squirrels, and an old mouse and his wife. No other rabbits live in the area. What is her mother thinking? Cress must learn to be responsible as her mother needs her help, and she must learn who her true friends are even if they aren't rabbits.

This book is being compared to Wind in the Willows and Staurt Little. My own thoughts are that it reminded me a little bit of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh. While a good read, I don't put it quite on the same level as these literary classics.

HEADS UP - One small questionable moment in 216 pages. Cress eventually does run into another rabbit, a rebellious rabbit named Nasty. After Cress encounters her, the last sentence of the chapter reads " Cress was in love." Now it could be her self-assured nastiness that Cress loves, or it could be a gay moment. Nothing else is ever mentioned again in the book even though there are other run-ins with Nasty.