Title: The Ironwood Tree
Author: Tony DiTerlizzi & Holly Black
Series: The Spiderwick Chronicles #4
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Fae, Fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Year: 2004
5th sentence, 74th page: Jared looked at him with surprise.
First a pack of vile, smelly goblins snatch Simon. Then a band of elves try to entrap Jared. Why is the entire faerie world so eager to get their hands on Spiderwick’s Guide? And will the Grace kids be left alone, now that the Guide has mysteriously disappeared? Don’t count on it.
At school, someone is running around pretending to be Jared, and it’s not Simon. To make matters even worse, now Mallory has disappeared and something foul in the water is killing off all the plants and animals for miles around. Clues point to the old abandoned quarry, just outside of town. Dwarves have taken over an abandoned mine there. And the faerie world’s abuzz with the news that a creature with plans to rule the world has offered them a gift to join with him — he’s given them a queen…
Throughout The Spiderwick Chronicles so far, Mallory has seemed like a bossy, tough, almost larger than life character. Probably because you’re almost seeing the story through the lens of one of her younger brothers. There is a sense of not-quite-hero-worship, and antagonism between Jared and Mallory, so it’s kind of fun that in this tale of the Grace children, it is Mallory who needs to be saved.
The problems that have slowly been building with Jared’s actions, the fae and the fieldguide finally start to come to a boil in this story. Not only are they forced to confront kidnappers and a shapeshifting horror, but they also find themselves betrayed, and confronted with Mulgarath for the first time. It’s a great way to open up the storyline for the next (and final) tale in this series.
Actually, this tale was such a great way to open up the storyline for the next Spiderwick Chronicles, that it took me a lot of willpower to turn off the light and go to sleep…
Earth and Skye 
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