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Willa
After tragedy disrupts her life, Willa escapes her grief by venturing into fantasy. But she soon wakes Baku, a creature whose sole purpose is to devour the threads that tie dreams to reality.
With the beast in pursuit and her new friends, Benny and Hadley, helping her, Willa is thrust into adventure. To overcome Baku, she has to find the only person who ever faced the monster and survived, a reclusive old woman who lives high in the mountains.
This coming-of-age story contains moments of comedy, but it ultimately deals with overcoming fear and loss. Willa is about a young girl returning to the United States after having lived her whole life on military bases overseas. It is a discovery of a home she has never seen, and the realization that she can build the world she wants to live in.
With the beast in pursuit and her new friends, Benny and Hadley, helping her, Willa is thrust into adventure. To overcome Baku, she has to find the only person who ever faced the monster and survived, a reclusive old woman who lives high in the mountains.
This coming-of-age story contains moments of comedy, but it ultimately deals with overcoming fear and loss. Willa is about a young girl returning to the United States after having lived her whole life on military bases overseas. It is a discovery of a home she has never seen, and the realization that she can build the world she wants to live in.
154 pages, Paperback
Published August 29, 2019
About the author
Cory Wheeler Mimms
2 books5 followersCory Wheeler Mimms is a medium-sized human who writes fiction, screenplays, and comics. His first novel, Trailing Tennessee, received excellent reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Midwest Book Review, Library Media Connection, Booklist, and more.
His short fiction and poetry has appeared in Joyland Magazine, Mousetails Quarterly, Four and Twenty Poetry, and other publications.
He has a master’s degree in writing and publishing from Portland State University, and he studied story structure in New York Film Academy's MFA program in screenwriting. Prior to that, he spent six years in the military, five overseas.
He is currently the Publishing Manager at an art and children's publisher based in Portland, Oregon.
His short fiction and poetry has appeared in Joyland Magazine, Mousetails Quarterly, Four and Twenty Poetry, and other publications.
He has a master’s degree in writing and publishing from Portland State University, and he studied story structure in New York Film Academy's MFA program in screenwriting. Prior to that, he spent six years in the military, five overseas.
He is currently the Publishing Manager at an art and children's publisher based in Portland, Oregon.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 9, 2019
Willa is the story of a girl who has spent her life traveling around the world to military bases with her dad. Her father gave her a statue of a creature he calls Baku, a dream-eater. One night, the figure is knocked off of her nightstand and shatters. This is devastating. Willa has always had a vivid imagination. Now her dreams become a second reality. She meets new friends and is given a quest to defeat an age-old enemy of the dream world. Baku. Using her newfound power, she sets out to defeat him. Will she succeed, or will this evil monster devour her as well?
Opinion:
Willa is a wonderful coming-of-age story that portrays imagination as an escape and a world beyond most of our wildest dreams. I enjoyed the vivid descriptions of characters and events. The characters were realistic and relatable. I would love to read Cory Wheeler Mimms' other book, Trailing Tennessee, as Willa has set high expectations. I hope he continues to write more books.
Opinion:
Willa is a wonderful coming-of-age story that portrays imagination as an escape and a world beyond most of our wildest dreams. I enjoyed the vivid descriptions of characters and events. The characters were realistic and relatable. I would love to read Cory Wheeler Mimms' other book, Trailing Tennessee, as Willa has set high expectations. I hope he continues to write more books.
January 29, 2020
This was a colorful and enjoyable read. I highly recommend it. The characters and story are fun and compelling but what I enjoyed most was the vivid way Mimms paints Willa’s fantasies. I can’t wait to share with my niece when she is old enough to read it in a few years.
September 9, 2019
A Terrific Middle Grade Fantasy that Deals with Loss
About two-thirds of the way through Cory Wheeler Mimms wonderful middle grade novel Willa, nerdy, bumbling Benny explains, “I saw a sea monster burst out of my bathroom earlier today … I’m pretty much ready to believe anything.” Indeed, Willa is a lively, exciting novel about a challenging reality and what’s possible beyond it.
Eleven-year-old Willa copes with the death of her father through going in and out of a dream world. What makes the fantastical elements so effective – ones marked by churning blue waters pullulating with rainbow fish and colorful, exotic jungles – is how well Mimms grounds the novel in the details and rhythm of the everyday world. Those scenes with Willa, her mom, and her science teacher grandfather are marked by good dialogue and tight writing. Her new friend Benny is a funny memorable character, giving the novel both a quirkiness and a rare charm for the genre.
That humor comes in quite handy with the eloquently wrought, surrealistic scenes that will follow. Ultimately, Willa must come to terms with her father’s death, and Mimms presents this daunting challenge in imaginative, clever ways, especially through the looming, ominous specter of the destructive Baku. The climatic scenes, featuring a wise elder and the devastation spilling out of the fantasy world into Willa’s everyday existence, are thrilling and satisfying. Overall, Willa is a fine allegorical tale of the struggles between fantasy and reality that I’d highly recommend for younger readers and for their parents who are looking to better remember the troubles of that age.
About two-thirds of the way through Cory Wheeler Mimms wonderful middle grade novel Willa, nerdy, bumbling Benny explains, “I saw a sea monster burst out of my bathroom earlier today … I’m pretty much ready to believe anything.” Indeed, Willa is a lively, exciting novel about a challenging reality and what’s possible beyond it.
Eleven-year-old Willa copes with the death of her father through going in and out of a dream world. What makes the fantastical elements so effective – ones marked by churning blue waters pullulating with rainbow fish and colorful, exotic jungles – is how well Mimms grounds the novel in the details and rhythm of the everyday world. Those scenes with Willa, her mom, and her science teacher grandfather are marked by good dialogue and tight writing. Her new friend Benny is a funny memorable character, giving the novel both a quirkiness and a rare charm for the genre.
That humor comes in quite handy with the eloquently wrought, surrealistic scenes that will follow. Ultimately, Willa must come to terms with her father’s death, and Mimms presents this daunting challenge in imaginative, clever ways, especially through the looming, ominous specter of the destructive Baku. The climatic scenes, featuring a wise elder and the devastation spilling out of the fantasy world into Willa’s everyday existence, are thrilling and satisfying. Overall, Willa is a fine allegorical tale of the struggles between fantasy and reality that I’d highly recommend for younger readers and for their parents who are looking to better remember the troubles of that age.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews