My Diary from the Edge of The World

I have never read a book quite like this one by Jodi Lynn Anderson. My Diary from the Edge of the World is a story told by young Gracie Lockwood who lives on an alternate Earth. Her world mirrors ours- there's a T.J.Maxx, Wendy's, Taco Bell and even reality T.V., but in her world, dragons fly overhead, Sasquatches freely roam the forests and no one can go to the beach anymore because of the dangerous mermaids that drag people out to sea. Even her world's reality T.V. is a group of witches  living together Big Brother style. What was so fun about this book is that one minute I was reading about a typical 12 year old girl going to school, but then she causally mentions the genies that live in caves or unicorns she saw at the circus one year. I never knew what magical creature was going to be thrown into the mix of her typical suburban existence.

           "Nothing terrible or exciting ever happens in Cliffden. Only baseball games and lying in the grass and chasing the ice-cream man in summer.....collecting earthworms in puddles after rain or hunting for dragon scales in the fall. Mom puts them in a big glass jar because they add a splash of color."

She goes on to write in her diary about Cliffden's boring Halloween except for that one year when a ghoul escaped from the underworld scaring kids and stealing candy until the police sent him back. This book is great fun!
The conflict in the story is that her family is trying to run away from a Dark Cloud. When a Dark Cloud hovers near your house, it's just matter of time before it takes one of your family members away. Her father has told stories for years about the existence of another world just like theirs except there is no magic (of course he is describing our version of Earth). Her family (parents, siblings, and a friend from school) begin the journey to the edge of the world to try and find this universe and a place where the Dark Cloud can't follow them. The end is a surprise and I'm not sure what I think about it yet. One thing I have learned is that not all stories can end in a neat perfect bow, and that's usually for the best.
It's a fairly long book with 400+ pages but I hope that doesn't discourage students from giving it a try. It's easy to read, Gracie's voice is really funny, and it's really quite entertaining.