Junior high and high school years are trying times, and The World Weaver by
Craig Etchison is about young adults as they attempt to make sense of their
place in the world--and out of it! On the first day back to school after summer
vacation, Peggy McClean befriends an intriguing new boy in her class. Shy and
soft-spoken Larkin is unlike anyone else Peggy has ever met. He doesn’t fit in
with the other kids at school, and Peggy can’t figure out why.... When Peggy’s
grandmother invites Larkin and his mother to a dinner party, the results are
disastrous! Larkin’s mother drinks liquor straight from a flask and flirts with
Peggy’s friends’ fathers. When Peggy finally demands an explanation from
Larkin, he confesses to her that he is actually an apprentice World Weaver
from another space-time dimension. Larkin can imagine things into existence,
and his mother was just an image of a film noir character he had seen on
television. Larkin’s quest is to recruit a group of young heroes to stop
Gurnacht, an elder and evil World Weaver, from creating another world to
destroy Earth. Peggy agrees to join him, and, along with two of her
classmates--Regina, a mentally challenged girl without many friends, and
Donny, a popular and gifted athlete with a chip on his shoulder--sets off with
Larkin to save the universe. The resulting adventure will test this unlikely
group’s faith in themselves, bringing to light their common fears and
insecurities, as well as the individual hang-ups they must each overcome with
the help of their friends. Though highly original, The World Weaver does share
certain themes with other classics in the genre of young adult fantasy, such
as the Wrinkle in Time series, The Chronincles of Narnia, The Lord of the
Rings, and the Harry Potter books, where the very survival of the earth
depends upon the success of young heroes. As in all of these books, the
element of teamwork is paramount, and each member of the team has his or
her own personal problems to overcome. Luckily, though, they have one
another for support, and this solidarity proves to be the most important
ingredient in their quest to save the universe.