Elizabeth Kay

The Divide

Katie Day

** spoiler alert **
           Felix is 13, but looks younger as he has a heart condition -- and he's in Costa Rica because he wanted to go somewhere exciting "before he died". As he stands on the divide -- between the Atlantic and Pacific -- he passes out -- and at the moment he passes into an alternate world, a world where he is a mythical creature and all the mythical creatures of our world exist -- with funny names. Griffins are called Brazzles there, Unicorns are called Brittlehorns, Elves are called Tangle-people, etc. Felix meets up with a brazzle called Ironclaw and a Tangle-person called Betony -- and together they rescue that world from an unscrupulous merchant foisted untried pharmaceuticals on the public -- and manage to find a cure for Felix's heart problems. Modern lessons in a pre-technological, mythical society. (e.g., that world doesn't know what printing is -- unless someone reads a book Felix brought across with him). Sequels....

The theme of the sickly child who is cured by entering an alternate world is similar Stravaganza by Mary Hoffman.

Felix is not your usual hero. Though brave and intelligent, he suffers from a rare illness. His parents take him on the holiday of a lifetime to Costa Rica, where they visit the high point where the waters that feed into the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans separate. There, Felix faints and something extraordinary happens. He wakes up in a back-to-front world where magic is real and humans are imaginary. Luckily, he's taken under the wing of Ironclaw, a maths-loving Brazzle, anda mischievous tangle-girl called Betony. Together they embark on the wildest adventure.

Eleanor Luhar

I started reading this when I was about eleven, and I had really enjoyed it. It's a bit of a kids' book really, but I just wanted to see how it ended!

So Felix, who's thirteen, has a debilitating heart condition. He and his parents visit Costa Rica, home of the Continental Divide. Nothing could prepare him for what happens after passing out across the Divide.

Suddenly, Felix is in a strange new world where myths are real and real life is fake. Humans aren't supposed to be real - so when Felix arrives, people start going crazy. They want to find a way into his world, where they can see science in real life, and where they can have a fresh market for their magic.

Betony becomes Felix's good friend, and along with her siblings and some other mythical creatures, they discover a japegrin who is selling untested magical remedies, causing side-affects in those who take them. They manage to spread the word about this, but he won't go down without a fight.

Like I said, this is more a children's book than a YA. I only really wanted to read it again because I was curious, and I seemed to enjoy it so much when I was younger. It's not a bad book, but obviously it's not one that teens are going to be raving about.

It's cute, but has such a childish feel to it. I mean, wise-hoofs and ear-rot? Snakeweed the villain?! The general plot is pretty good, unlike any other book I've read. But I can't say I'm going to be hunting down the rest of the series. 2.5 stars.

BookMarked

While hiking on the Continental Divide of Costa Rica, a young boy with a heart condition falls into a magical otherworld full of fantastical creatures.

Nora 

Caitlin Hooker

Amanda Shameem

Helene Utterback

While hiking on the Continental Divide of Costa Rica, Felix, a young boy with a heart condition, falls into a magical otherworld full of fantastical creatures and sets off on a thrilling quest to find a cure for his illness and then return home. Reprint.

The Divide

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