Alice Hoffman's Nightbird

***I received this title for free from NetGalley and Random House/Wendy Lamb Books. 

The free-ness in no way influenced my opinion.***

From time to time a book enters your life and it feels more like a hug than words on a page. For me, Alice Hoffman's upcoming Nightbird had that feel.

It's told by twelve year old Twig Fowler. She's a lonely girl living in a lonely family in a town where everyone knows everyone. No one seems to really know Twig or her family even though their family has been in the Berskhire community for hundreds of years. There are family secrets that keep them hidden in plain sight and this leaves Twig feeling as inconsequential as, well, a twig.

A "monster" is on the loose in town, a new family moves in next door, and the newspaper gets a new editor who seems to be quite interested in Twig's mother. Everything in Twig's life gets turned upside down (which, at times, is the best way to look at things).

It's part fairytale with witches, magic, and curses. It's part coming-of-age with love, family, friendship, and self. It's the kind of book that I wish I had when I was in middle school and feeling inconsequential myself. I can just picture myself curled up with it -- reading it over and over. My only complaint, in fact, is that I finished it too quickly.