Poppy

Fantasy · Fable

Print length: 160 pagesHarperTrophy, 2001

Description

Poppy, a young deer mouse, lives with her large family in an abandoned farmhouse in Dimwood. Their safety and movement are controlled by Mr. Ocax, a great horned owl who demands obedience and blocks the mice from relocating to New House, where food may be more plentiful. Rather than accept his command, Poppy travels toward the forbidden destination to investigate for herself. The forest exposes her to predators and unfamiliar terrain, but it also brings an unlikely ally: Ereth, a prickly porcupine who agrees to protect her in exchange for access to a salt lick. Poppy’s journey becomes a test of whether one small mouse can question an authority sustained by fear and secure a safer future for her family.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Descriptive · Direct · Witty

Pace

Brisk

Tone

Hopeful · Playful · Tense · Warm

Structure

Linear

Focus

Character · Plot · Relationships

Emotional intensity

3 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 2 / 5
Ideas: 2 / 5
Structure: 2 / 5
Background knowledge: 1 / 5

Themes

Coming of ageFamilyFreedomOppressionSurvivalTransformation

About Avi

Avi, the pen name of Edward Irving Wortis, is an American writer whose books for children and young adults range across historical fiction, fantasy, mystery, comedy, and realistic fiction. His work is unusually varied in form but consistently direct in its storytelling, placing young protagonists in situations where received accounts of courage, authority, or civic duty begin to break down. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and The Fighting Ground turn historical adventure into an encounter with fear, coercion, and moral confusion, while Sophia’s War connects public revolution with a girl’s decision to act. In Nothing but the Truth, a minor school conflict expands through competing voices into a satire of institutional behavior and public controversy. Even the animal fantasy Poppy centers on resistance to arbitrary power, while The Secret School treats education as something its heroine must preserve for herself. This combination of narrative momentum, formal range, and close attention to young people testing official versions of events distinguishes Avi’s work. He received the Newbery Medal for Crispin: The Cross of Lead.

Series

Poppy · Book 2

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: HarperTrophy
Language: English
ISBN: 9780380727698

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