Periwinkle and the Cave of Courage

The Fairy Chronicles #6

by J.H. Sweet, Holly Sierra (Illustrator)

Illustrations Tara Larsen Chang

Inside you is the power to do anything

Once every hundred years, the courage of humanity begins to fail. It takes a coordinated effort from the entire magic community to restore the Cave of Courage so that we can all bravely face the challenges in our lives.

This century, Mother Nature has chosen a dwarf, a leprechaun, a gnome, a troll, two brownies, and four fairies to participate. With four fairies involved usually no challenge would be too difficult, but now they must rely on the help of others, something that not everyone is good at ...

What if you discovered you had magical fairy powers? Meet the girls of The Fairy Chronicles, otherwise normal girls like you who are blessed by Mother Nature with special gifts. Their extraordinary adventures will change the world!

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens

119 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2007

Reviews

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that I’ve finished the first 13 books of this series, I’m going to go back to rate and review each one. I’ve not read beyond the first 13, and I don’t plan to. Because I yam who I yam and because this series is beloved from my childhood, I’m probably going to be more thorough than necessary for a relatively unknown series for seven-year-olds. These reviews will contain very mild spoilers – nothing beyond what is mentioned in the blurb on the back or on goodreads – unless otherwise stated.

4.25/5 stars

Periwinkle and The Cave of Courage, along with the second book in The Fairy Chronicles, Dragonfly and the Web of Dreams, are the books in this series that I remember most distinctly from childhood. As a child who felt different and inept in many things compared to my peers, the ending of this book was surprising, uplifting, and comforting. It also may have been the last book in the series I read, despite having owned books 1 through 10. When I read the first 13 books this summer, I didn’t have any familiarity with the books after this one.

This book features the same main cast of fairies as Spiderwort and the Princess of Haiku, along with several magical creatures: a dwarf, Tom the Leprechaun (from Thistle and the Shell of Laughter), Mr. Ambertoes the Wood Gnome, brownie twins James and John (from Spiderwort and the Princess of Haiku), and a troll girl named Annie. The fairies, Periwinkle (aka Vinca), Cinnabar (aka Helen), Spiderwort (aka Jensen), and Rosemary (aka Bailey), are unaccompanied by a mentor.

Though Periwinkle was introduced in Firefly and the Quest of the Black Squirrel, I have withheld my criticism about her until the book where she’s the titular character, as this book reveals more that contributes to her questionable characterization. Before I get into my criticism, I’d like to preface it with 2 things. The first is that I understand that the first 13 books of this series were published between 2007-2009, and with that in mind, the series provides far more representation than a lot of media of the time period. Though the fairies of the Southwest Region of the United States are predominantly white, there are well-intentioned attempts to include diversity. Helen/Cinnabar and Jennifer/Dragonfly are both black, Elise/Dove is Japanese, Hollyhock is deaf, and Vinca/Periwinkle is Native American. These characters are not depicted with inherently negative traits and stereotypes, nor do their peers seem to Other them. I appreciate that J.H. Sweet attempted to provide diversity at all, and she proves throughout the series that she genuinely believes that differences and diversity are important. I recognize that in 2007, she did not have the same resources we have today to provide less stereotypical representation. The second thing is that I am not Native American, and I have no desire to speak over native voices. My criticism echoes what I have learned from indigenous folk.

Vinca is Native American, specifically Cherokee, which seems to be the only Native American ethnicity that authors who are (presumably) white know. I’ll give Sweet a modicum of grace on this specific point, as the series takes place in Texas, and Texas and its neighboring state, Oklahoma, have the largest Cherokee populations. Vinca's indigenous roots are sensationalized and romanticized. In addition to her fairy gift of channeling energy from the sun, she has a number of gifts that are acknowledged as deriving from her indigenous heritage, such as natural leadership and guidance, which include the ability to inherently identify dangerous plants and animals, as well as have a good sense of direction. Furthermore, she is the only fairy with a spirit guide, who takes the form of a small snail on her shoulder and gives her words of wisdom. Again, this is because she’s Native American. Yes, this type of representation is less overtly negative than the depiction of indigenous folk as “savages,” but it’s harmful in its own right. Finally, and perhaps the most egregious choice that Sweet made with Vinca, is that she is adopted by a non-Cherokee family after her parents die, despite the fact that her great-grandfather is alive and she visits him in the book. (Quick aside: she visits him at a reservation in New Mexico. As far as I know, there are no Cherokee reservations in New Mexico. Either Sweet really didn’t do her research or she retconned the Cherokee ancestry mentioned in an earlier book. Or Vinca’s great-grandfather is married to someone on another reservation, but that’s probably giving too much credit). There’s a long, dark history of indigenous children being adopted by non-indigenous families, and I hate that that was perpetuated, however well-intentioned, in this book.

If not for the issues with Vinca/Periwinkle, this would’ve been my highest rated book in the series, and not just for nostalgia reasons. The four fairies, along with their fellow magical creatures, must charge the Cave of Courage, which provides courage to all of mankind. Every one-hundred years, the cave must be recharged, which is done by working together to pass a series of tests. I think the structure of the challenges/tests lends itself to a more solid and coherent plot than some of the other books in the series. The definition of courage gets stretched a bit, but it's for reasons that are ultimately admirable, so I won’t fault for that.

As I mentioned in my disclaimer above, Sweet does seem to have a genuine desire to laud the merits of diversity, whether that’s in background, skills, intelligence, etc. That really shows in this book, where each magical creature brings a different, necessary skill, bit of knowledge, or background to the challenge. Each character gets to contribute with their specific skillset. Except for maybe Rosemary. I don’t remember if she does anything in this book. It’s also one of the few books in the series where characters really have to wrestle with the decisions they make.

I love Annie the troll. She’s a cutie and a fun character. Her character necessitates that the other characters have patience and understanding, which is a great lesson to teach children (and adults, honestly). Of all the books that I read in this series, this book seems to have the clearest message that isn't preachy.

This is another book illustrated by Holly Sierra (aside from the cover). Her illustrations in this one are better than in the previous book. I especially liked the illustration of Cinnabar and James.

Various minor spoilery things that I liked in this book include:
- Again, love Annie. I fear the trolls (a creature that doesn’t necessarily have positive connotations) may have some unfortunate overlap with certain types of neurodivergence, but I found comfort in her as a child, and enjoyed her as an adult.
- I have mixed feelings on romance in children’s books, but the crush between Cinnabar and one of the brownies was harmless, cute, and age appropriate. Sweet doesn’t push romance in every book and this one is very surface level, so I thought it was cute
- The dwarf names in this series are so silly (neutral statement)
- All of the books have facts and activities at the end, which I don’t think I’ve mentioned but I’ll take the time now to say that's something I really like. Sweet clearly cares about education.
- Annie’s pumpkin cookie recipe at the back being not at all pumpkin related is really funny honestly

Overall, despite the unfortunate representation with Vinca/Periwinkle, this book has a solid plot and a genuinely positive message about patience, appreciation of others, and kindness.

[Aishwarya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it's a really good book for children or teenagers between the ages of 8-15 years. The Fairy Chronicles has a series of books where the story revolves around a group of fairies who solve the problems of the world. In this book the fairies along with some other creatures are required to work together and restore the cave of courage. Each book of the series has a hidden lesson for the young readers. The books of this series are very enjoyable. I remember when I was 12 this was the very first book I read from The Fairy Chronicles, and then I could not wait to read each and every book of this series!
Here's the link to the book:
https://amzn.to/2L4JXAn

[Samaira SP · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXELLENT

[hal · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Fairy Chronicles is kind of like the "Rainbow Magic" series (by Daisy Meadows) for the older readers. The Fairy Chronicles are more complex- I recommend these books for kids who read the "Rainbow Magic" series when they were younger, but still like reading about fairies. This is technically a series, but I read two books- they were out of order- and there was nothing I didn't understand. The author does a good job of bringing new readers up to date so even if they hadn't read the previous books, everything still makes sense.

In this particular adventure, the courage of humanity is starting to fail, as it does every hundred years. All kinds magical creatures have to team up to restore the Cave of Courage. This century, Mother Nature has chosen a dwarf, a gnome, a leprechaun, a troll, two brownies (brownies are kind of like the male version of fairies. All the fairies are girls) and four fairies to restore the cave. They all have to rely on each other and learn teamwork and courage.

I'd say that this is a pretty decent fantasy series for the older readers. I recommend to readers ages 8 and up.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another fun story in the Fairy Chronicles series. Our oldest discovered this series while we were at our local library and since they only had three of the books, I bought her a few more of the books. She really likes them and I like that they are longer and more complex than the Rainbow Magic books that she so loves. This story included an exciting adventure and an interesting perspective on courage.

[Kiki · Rating 3 out of 5]

not as interesting as I hoped.

[Madeleine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as I hoped

[Just_me · Rating 3 out of 5]

As per the rest we've so far read in the series my little girl has loved it. In this one the fairies join other magical creatures to recharge the cave of courage, and learn what courage really is.

[Terry]

Lots of action, magic, and teamwork combine in this fantasy series for transitional readers. This is excellent as a read-aloud or independent reading book. Get the full review.