“The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman” by Robin Gregory – A World to Fit In

While life certainly likes to throw a few curve-balls at everyone at some point, it's undeniable that most of us have what we need not only to survive, but to actually enjoy life itself. As you well know, there is always the other side of the coin, the people whose survival on this planet has been challenged from the moment they set foot in it.

Whether they end well or badly, there is something special about such people who defy all odds until the very end, as is the case of the titular Moojie in The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman by Robin Gregory.

With the first strike against him being his name, Moojie was already in for a rough start. He was also born with physical disabilities, takes a while to start talking, and when he does another problem piles on to the list: stuttering. He lost his mother, and keeping in line with Moojie's luck, his father refused to take him in.

And so he's sent off to St. Isidore's Fainting Goat Dairy, run by his terribly-tempered grandfather whose favourite past-times seem to be drinking, cursing, threatening to send Moojie back to the orphanage, and hating on the so-called hostiles in the surrounding forest.

As Moojie discovers though, these hostiles are actually a magical race who hopes to show the world what harmony is. He deeply hopes to be accepted in their world, but trust doesn't come easy, not for the broken nor for the otherworldly.

The premise of the story may certainly bear some familiarity and similarities to other books in the genre, but the focus here is not really placed on the magic beings, but rather on Moojie's inner journey and development as a capable being in spite of all that's holding him back.

This is really a character-driven show, and let me say that Gregory really put the effort in accurately defining all the people (or beings), depicting them in detail both inside and out. They all have their own complexities and demons to struggle with, but Moojie's arc really draws the spotlight as he slowly transforms from a shallow, scared and incapable boy to basically the contrary.

The process is handled in a very realistic way by the author, inching the character step-by-step in a logical manner towards the changes he comes to experience.

The supernatural dimension of this book would be more accurately described as magical realism, and it serves to really define and demonstrate what the off-world beings are capable of, and the dormant wonders Moojie has either been blessed or cursed with. Otherwise we don't really see many magical elements, with the protagonist's reality being the object of focus.

This is definitely a coming-of-age novel, but to classify it as solely that wouldn't do justice to the many reflections posited by the author. More than about personal growth, this is a story about how much our choices end up impacting our lives, with their consequences sometimes being far bigger than what we could anticipate.

It's about the transformations and awakenings we endure as we make more and more of those decisions that take us past points of no return, about our never-ending drive to move forward no matter what the future holds.

To conclude, Robin Gregory's debut novel is very well-written, colourful, inspiring, stimulating and quite original. It takes you on many unexpected paths, and the deeper you get into, the more its complexity becomes apparent.

The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman is a must-read for those who like deep coming-of-age stories sprinkled with some magical realism.

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Robin Gregory Personal site Robin Gregory is an American author and ex-journalist whose debut novel, The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman, has earned her many prizes, including Fiction Gold 2016 Best Pre-Teen Fantasy and the Best First Middle-Grade Literary Classics Award, amongst a few others.