In The Nordlings, 15-year-old Peggy finds herself thrust out of her unhappy everyday life and into Notherland, the fantasy world she created as a child. The soul-stealing Nobodaddy now threatens Notherland’s existence, and it’s up to Peggy to save it. To fight this force, she teams up with a talking loon, a fierce-hearted doll, the ill-fated explorer Sir John Franklin, and Jackpine, a soul who has escaped from the Nobodaddy’s bottomless prison. In the end, Peggy alone must face and destroy the Nobodaddy, her own worst creation.

CBC radio commentator and children’s author Kathleen McDonnell’s idea of entering an imaginary world when things get tough in the real one is enchanting, but she burdens her novel with weak, unresolved secondary plots. Peggy’s immediate attraction to Jackpine, who is the Notherland incarnation of a glue-sniffing boy she has seen in the park, quickly becomes her primary motivation for staying and fighting her own monster. This instant, one-dimensional romance detracts from Peggy’s strength, and seems out of place in a story appealing to preadolescents and early teens. McDonnell also introduces, then drops, the real world troubles Peggy is trying to escape. When Peggy returns to reality, we don’t get to see how she applies any Notherland lessons to her everyday life and its problems.

Girls aged 9 to 13 will appreciate the pluckiness of Notherland’s inhabitants, and the rescue mission makes for an adventure-filled plot. The book is at its best when McDonnell concentrates on shooting sea monsters, avoiding icebergs, and saving lost souls. Even with her lamentable crush, Peggy is a likable and compelling character, and her reluctant heroism will engage readers.