Heidi Heilig

Fiction 2016/ 454 pages

Sixteen-year-old Nix is a time traveler, traveling with her father in a pirate ship called the Temptation.  The challenge is, however, they can travel across distance, mystical worlds, and times ... but only if they have a map that can get them there.  Her father is obsessed with getting back to Honolulu in 1868, in time to keep his wife from dying in childbirth with Nix. Nix understands her father's obsession, but also enjoys the simple adventures of going back to China a few centuries ago, or to modern New York City, or going to a fantasy land where fish provide power and light.

The relationships were fun ... Nix is good friends with a fellow shipmate, Kashmir, who is a master thief.  Nix and her dad Slate have a very loving relationship.

I think conceptually the plot is very clever.  The relationships and the individual characters were well-developed.  However, I think the author misses the mark on the story.  So much more could have been included. We see little of the places they visit and experience no real sense of the cultures.  The author jumps around in time, especially in Hawaii, making it a bit hard to follow.  The story, the context, the various settings, including The Temptation, lack vividness, wonder, fantasy, visual clarity for me.  I could seldom "see" where they are.

The Girl from Everywhere is an easy read.  I can recommend it, but not whole-heartedly.

January 2024