SMALL WONDER

No sooner does 10-year-old Tick spot the black sails of the offshore Drenish fleet than he knows it’s time to ride for King’s Keep, the mountain fortress that has always protected the people of Ellia from invaders. On a mission that turns extra urgent after he discovers evidence of a traitor at the Keep, he sweeps up his 5-year-old brother, cherubic blond Leaf, and they’re off on his scarred, old, dappled gray mare, Pebble—a scene-stealing steed who repeatedly saves their bacon by being not only uncommonly brave and fast, but at least as smart as any human in the tale. Montgomery slips many brushes with danger into his headlong plot, but the fugitives escape them all a little too easily for the suspense to be any more than momentary. So direct and uncomplicated is the entire storyline, in fact, that even less analytical readers are unlikely to be really surprised when Tick, humble and true, saves the day and uncovers a hidden family secret. Most characters are cued white.