Bound To Stay Bound

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 Alice with a why
 Author: James, Anna

 Publisher:  Flamingo Books (2026)

 Classification: Fiction
 Physical Description: 216 p., ill., 21 cm

 BTSB No: 409229 ISBN: 9780593691991
 Ages: 8-12 Grades: 3-7

 Subjects:
 Grandparent-grandchild relationship -- Fiction
 Imaginary places -- Fiction
 Imaginary wars and battles -- Fiction
 Fantasy fiction

Price: $23.28

Summary:
Journey back to Wonderland, England, 1919. Alyce-with a Y-is sent to live with her grandmother, the original Alice, after losing her father in war. When a mysterious invitation to a tea party hits her square in the face, Alyce realizes her grandmother's strange stories of a place called Wonderland might have some truth to them after all. Soon Alyce is tumbling down into Wonderland herself, but the place she finds isn't a colorful world she's heard stories of, but a world trapped in its own war.

 Illustrator: Land, Matthew

Reviews:
   Kirkus Reviews (+) (11/15/25)
   Booklist (+) (12/01/25)
 The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/11/25)

Full Text Reviews:

Other - 10/20/2025 The granddaughter of a familiar heroine embarks on her own magical quest in this beguiling reimagining of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. During the Great War, young Alyce’s English countryside home also housed wounded soldiers, cared for by her paternal grandmother, Alice, and Alyce’s mother, Sylvie. Following the war’s conclusion and Sylvie’s departure for London to tend to her own ailing parent, Alyce lives alone with her grandmother, who tells odd stories about white rabbits, vanishing cats, and growing to gigantic heights. Upon discovering a mysterious invitation while folding paper boats beside a nearby pond, Alyce tumbles into the water-and appears in a war-torn Wonderland. Three strangers-an anthropomorphic hare and dormouse, as well as a man in a peculiar hat-inform Alyce that the Sun King and the Queen of the Moon are feuding. And though the trio wishes she was her grandmother ("the other Alice"), they set the youth on a perilous quest to put things to rights. This upbeat ode by James (the Chronicles of Whetherwhy series) faithfully captures the essence of the inspiration material’s wild logic, sharp wordplay, and extensive whimsy. Land’s b&w illustrations, depicting white-cued characters, recall the warmth of John Tenniel’s fluid artwork. Ages 8-12. (Jan.) - Copyright 2025

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