The Great Good Thing

by Roderick Townley

Book Overview

A storybook princess breaks the fourth wall and incites a new kind of adventure in this imaginative middle grade fantasy perfect for fans of Chris Colfer and Gail Carson Levine.

Sylvie had an amazing life, but she didn't get to live it very often.

Sylvie has been a twelve-year-old princess for more than eighty years, ever since the book she lives in was first printed. She's the heroine, and her story is exciting. But that's...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1665973064
• ISBN13: 9781665973069
• Release Date: January 2025
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Length: 224 Pages
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

An unexpected treasure

It may not be a big secret anymore, but there are a lot of adults who like reading "children's books". No, though it made me take a second look at today's "kid's lit", Harry Potter(as much as I love it)did not start this. I digress.I am reading a lot of "juvenile fiction" these days and while on a search at my local book store for new authors and stories, I happened upon a hard back of Into the Laberynth and learned of this earlier book by the same author.I don't want to give much away about the plot, but it is a sweet, wacky and humorous story about what might go on inside your old storybooks when you are not reading them. The characters go on living their lives and when a person is reading the book .....it's like the characters are stage performers.The main character is Sylvie a princess who is called upon to do a great good thing to save her kingdom and her story. In her journey she meets and befriends one of her readers a little girl named Claire. It is a fun story but poignant. It is in turns...exciting,humorous,suspenceful,sweet and sad. I finished the book and(I might be getting a little carried away, but who cares)found it quite frankly one of the most enjoyable novels(not just "children's novels" I have read in a long time. A most unexpected and pleasurable treasure. I would recomend it to anyone who ever read a story book or listened to a story.

Italo Calvino for kids-- original, marvelous, layered tale!

From the opening of this book-- Sylvie lived an intresting life, but she didn't get to live it very often-- the wonderful central subject of what characters in a book do when the book is closed is clearly drawn. I do not think young readers will have any trouble with this concept-- in effect it's no different from wondering what your dolls do when they're not in the room-- and older readers will appreciate the many layers of the book, and the somewhat melancholy depiction of how fast life goes by and how quickly the various Readers age and die, in the "real world." and yet the story is eternal!I enjoyed this book as a fantasy about Sylvie and her longing for adventure-- I enjoyed the details of having to scramble back into page 3, the rules about not looking UP at the reader, the way the "stage lights" come on when the book is abruptly closed-- the characters who want to behave out of character (the courtly thief, who is far more polite and helpful than he's supposed to be)-- and then, as in the best fantasy, I enjoyed the profound mythic impulse behind it. Claire, the Reader Sylvie first encountered, is desperately trying to save her grandmother. She reopens the book to read it to her grandmother, who was once the "girl with blue eyes" who was the First Reader. But the exploration of worlds within worlds doesn't stop there. Claire's grandmother does die, but she reappears in Sylvie's world-- beyond the eastern forest-- as the girl with blue eyes. It turns out that beyond the margins of the book is the world of Claire's dreams, and many more characters appear there.To reveal more would be to lessen the fun for you Readers out there. But I will say finally that the book explores what story means to us, how we see our own realities, how we use stories to connect with our families, and even what it means to Create.I expected a fun romp with one little gimmick, I got instead a work of philsophy expressed through humor, dialogue and fairy tale-- almost in the tradition of The Little Prince.Not to be missed by any Reader, of any age.

A book with Life

This is a great book. It's about Sylvie and her parent's kingdom. This may sound like a fairytale but it's not. The kingdom is a book. They live in the book and they are the characters. Townley manages to introduce you into a whole new world of the readers, the characters and the mind, and there is still a wonderful story between the description of how one character gets pinned down by a huge finger when the reader uses her finger as a bookmark, and how another character hinds himself between parentheses. The characters say things to believable that I found myself being careful to not let my finger rest on any words for fear that I might squish a character. This is a wonderful book and I would recommend it to everyone in sight!

The infinite soul of our imagination is revealed

Roderick Townley has written a book for every age, everywhere. I immediately surrendered to the incredible charm of this novel, and was transported into a story that resonated through my adult mind and on into one of a delighted child who had longed for a tale of this caliber. The Great Good Thing offers the reader a deeply touching possibility of how, when, where, and why our imagination works, but does so in a universally engaging way that will captivate and inspire everyone: through a really good story. Full of metaphor, it nonetheless allows its audience to breathe within its unfolding instead of the ham-handed approach so often used to convey meaningful points. I could not put it down, and have a good idea of what Christmas will look like for a number of friends - they all need a Great Good Thing, too. Thank you for a wonderful book, Roderick Townley!

A fairy tale not just for children

Although listed as a children's book, this book should be read by anyone who's interested in the wonderment of books. It's a delightful story about real characters in books who are alive - and not just in the reader's mind. When the book isn't open, they lie around getting bored but when a 'Reader' comes along, they scramble for their places and take up the story. So what happens when one of the characters actually meets the Reader and helps her with her problems? That's what you'll have to read the book to find out. This one is a must read for writers, readers, and anyone who's in love with the written word. It is a unique, new way of looking at fairy tales.