The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley

1999/162pgs.

About the Book: Fifteen-year-old Corinna Stonewall learned early on that boys had it easier. So she transformed herself into Corin and became a Folk Keeper. She writes in her journal and keeps the Folk tame, or as best she can.

One day Lord Merton arrives and summons Corin to his estate on Cliffsend. He tells her he knew her parents (Corin was left at an orphanage as a baby with no clue to her past). Lord Merton soon passes away and Corin travels to Cliffsend with Lord Merton's wife and cousin to become the new Folk Keeper. The Folk at Cliffsend are more terrible than what Corin has encountered before. The tricks she used before don't work and she is slowly discovering new powers at Cliffsend that will lead Corin to discover the truth about her past. But she must discover the truth before anyone else does because the truth will put her in danger.

Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: Franny Billingsley has a new book coming out this month called Chime, which has everyone raving and already has six starred reviews. The kidlit world was buzzing with news of a new book by this author and I felt very out of loop-I had never heard of Franny Billingsley before! But then I realized it's been 11 years since her last book, and while The Folk Keeper was critically acclaimed, it didn't generate a lot of buzz outside of the book world. So I decided to catch up and see what all the buzz was about.

The Folk Keeper is a strange little book. The story is told in journal entries and it has the feel of an old folktale or a gothic tale. It took be a bit to get into it because we're thrown right into the story and we're never really told what or who the Folk are (I imagined them to be like Fey or Fairies). The Folk Keeper's job remains a bit of a mystery throughout the book as well, with only little details here and there.

But once you get going, the story picks up-the author doesn't waste a lot of time setting up the story, and Corin is whisked off to Cliffsend very quickly. Once at Cliffsend I found myself engaged in this odd little tale. Corinna tries to come off as a strong and in charge girl (or boy at times, as she's hiding her identity) but deep down you see her fears and her struggles. She also has a sharp wit which I appreciated-it made her a more interesting character.

There are a lot of fantasy elements to the book, but I don't think non-fantasy readers would be turned off by that because they are lighter fantasy. There's also a bit of a romance, but again, it's fairly light. Mostly, this is Corinna's story about discovering who she is and choosing her path.

It reminded me a bit a Neil Gaiman, so I would recommend to this Gaiman fans or readers who enjoy folk tales and gothic stories. After reading The Folk Keeper, I understand the excitement of a new book from this author and I'm looking forward to reading Chime.