Title: Fog MagicAuthor: Julia L. SauerPublisher: PuffinRelease Date: 1943Rating: 5/5Cover Impressions: This is my favorite cover of this book and the one that I remember. It gets the old fishing village just right and has the beautiful, soft and ethereal quality of the fog.Review:When I was a little girl I discovered this book on the shelf of my tiny school library. I read it at least twice a year for the rest of my time at that school. It was my go-to book when I was feeling sad or lonely (which, to be honest, was quite often) and I was the perfect book for a foggy, Newfoundland day. Recently, while perusing the shelves at my favorite second hand bookstore, I came across Fog Magic and just about squealed in delight. I am so happy to get to read this wonderful story again.Fog Magic is the Newberry Award Winning book of Julia L. Sauer. It is set in rural Nova Scotia in a tiny fishing village. The main character is an eleven year old girl named Greta. Greta has always had an unexplainable fascination with the fog. From the time she could walk, her mother was constantly trying to stop her from wandering off into the mist. While walking one grey, foggy day, Greta discovers that the fog doesn't simply hide her from the world, it also reveals a new world to her. The fog allows her entrance to Blue Cove, a place that holds only remnants of a community in the bright sunshine but is alive with the hustle and bustle of life within the fog. I always love the magic behind Fog Magic. I grew up in the fog, I saw how it will creep and sneak along the ground one day and roll in as if swallowing you up the next. I loved the idea that you could walk into the mist and come upon something that was never there by the light of the sun but could exist in that liminal space that fog can create. Sauer does an excellent job of describing the mystery of the fog and the rules of this world are fairly well defined. The fact that Greta can only reach Blue Cove through the fog and that time is different there allows the story to move quickly through a year without being bogged down with day to day details.The story is a simple one, but is enchanting in its simplicity. We are able to see some of the key events in the lives of the people at Blue Cove and can really feel Greta's sense of other-worldliness in having prior knowledge of the outcome of these events but no way to change them. She develops a simple and sweet friendship with Retha and becomes close with her family, who appear to know more about this mystery that Greta does herself. I do wish that some of the minor mysteries, like what happened to make everyone leave Blue Cove or who Anthony really is, were answered as these are the questions that keep me wondering and wishing there was a sequel to this book. This book will always be a favorite of mine and it makes me happy simply to see a copy resting on my shelves, awaiting the next grey, foggy day.Notable Quotables:"Most of us live in two worlds - our real world and the one we build or spin ourselves out of the books we read, the heroes we admire, the things we hope to do." Teaching/Parental Notes:Age: Middle GradeGender: BothSex: NoneViolence: NoneInappropriate Language: NoneSubstance Use/Abuse: None
I thought this was a pretty darn good book - and what to expect from 1944, the year that also brought awards to Rufus M. and Little Town on the Prairie?!This book really is magical, but it's a ghost story as well. I thought that all the little stories throughout the book would tie in together at the ending, but really they stood on their own and had little to offer. Fog Magic was a clever way to introduce both the sorrows and simple joys of centuries past, and some of the stories were very sad with no real conclusion. From the book: "But a story can't end like that!" followed by "Maybe stories don't, but life does." And this is the kind of life that was portrayed in Blue Cove.I don't think everyone will enjoy this book as much as I did, and I really thought that the way it ended was pretty cheesy, but I really did like this book. Not nearly as well-known as Rufus M. or Little Town on the Prairie or even Johnny Tremain, but this book fits nicely with the others in that year. :)
Do You like book Fog Magic (1969)?
My favorite thing about Fog Magic is when the fog comes in, Greta saw a different world. When she discovered the fog had magic in it was when she was looking for the milk cow and thought she saw a house in the fork of the road. Then Greta found friends on the other side of the mountain called Blue Cove. Her new friends name was Retha and Mrs. Morrill. My favorite part of the book was when Retha and Greta were picking berries and it was time for Greta to go home and Mrs. Morrill gave Greta a piece of pie to take home with her. When she got home the pie was gone from the pale. All in all I really liked reading this book and imagining what it would be like to be in another world. My least favorite part of the book was about Captain Cornwall dieing of yellow fever. It made Greta and Retha really sad.
—Sheetal Dash
Sauer, Julia L., Fog Magic, The Viking Press, 1943, Fantasy, 4th - 7th grade, rate: 5, Lexile 800LThis book is about an eleven year old named Greta, who loves the fog. Her mother Gertrude isn’t fond of it and doesn’t like her daughter playing in it, but permits her to. While Greta is in the fog, she comes across a town, Blue Cove, that’s only present in the fog; it’s buildings and people that used to exist years ago are no longer present. While going into the fog, she develops friendships, including with a little girl named Retha and her family. Throughout the story Greta witnesses/lives stories that her father used to tell her, and discovers the truth about those stories.I rate this book a 5 because of the feeling I got while reading the book, and how well the author brings the characters and scenery alive. I enjoyed the language the author used and the topic she choice to write about. I think “fog magic” is something many people have thought about; what if there was something else within the fog? This book let me experience what a young girl witnessed as she went into the fog and was welcomed into a different life/time with open arms.
—Jill
A sweet, simple, magical story about a girl who loves the fog and discovers in it a way to time travel to a nearby community in the past. I enjoyed how a number of plot threads are so realistically left unresolved as an explicit theme of the book. I understand the ending is a sore point for some readers, and I think I can describe the problem vaguely enough to not spoil it badly, but I'll put some spoiler tags around this anyway: (view spoiler)[Just before the end, it basically characterizes the foregoing dreamy wonders of the book as childish--someone actually uses the phrase 'put away childish things.' But at the very end we're also told it's stuff someone can revisit again and again, meaningfully, for their whole life. So I think there's a positive message there about continuing to value your memories of childhood and your sense of wonder and mystery, even if there's also a very literal message about your perspective changing as you age. (hide spoiler)]
—Christopher
