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Guardian Spirits

Sarah Martin Byrd
Lucky Press (2011)
ISBN  9780984462728
Reviewed by Tia Bach for RebeccasReads (6/11)

The back cover says it so well, “A little girl’s world should be all sugar and spice and everything nice, but that is not the case for twelve-year-old Sadie Madison.”  "Guardian Spirit" starts with Millie fleeing from her abusive husband with her children, Sadie and Sammy, in tow. After a particularly brutal episode involving the children, Millie cannot bear another day.

She takes off for her childhood vacation home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. She hasn’t seen her family in years, ever since her mother left her father for another man. Even as they settle into their new surroundings, Millie can’t bring herself to visit her grandmother, Ann. Too many open wounds. What Millie doesn’t know is that Ann has been pining away for her grand-daughter for years and there are guardian spirits watching over all of them.

Sadie keeps sensing a presence and soon realizes they have a neighbor in the woods, a huge black bear Sadie affectionately names Blackie. When Millie goes to town to fill her prescription, she meets Doc Townsend while the kids hear the story about the doctor and his Native American grandmother, Nyoaka.  As was tradition, Doc Townsend went into the woods when he was twelve in search of his animal guardian spirit. Sadie begins to wonder if Blackie is hers.

Millie lives in fear. She knows it’s only so long before her husband, Brad, finds them and she’s battling cancer. All she wants is for her children to be safe and happy. Brad soon catches up to them, and the last fifty pages are a fast-paced ride to the conclusion. Spirits and loved ones come together to fend off the danger and save the family.

There was so much right about this story: good editing, good writing, and good story. Unfortunately, the character development and pacing was off just enough to keep this from being a great read for me. Sadie was the most compelling character, and I would have preferred more of the story from her point of view. Byrd tried to achieve too many mini-stories when her main story was compelling enough. If the whole story had been as tight as the last fifty pages, this would be a must-read.

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