Little (Grrl) Lost    by Charles de Lint Order:  USA  Can Viking, 2007 (2007) Hardcover      Reviewed by Hilary Williamson Two very different young women - each unhappy with their family - bump into each other and share their stories. Gradually a friendship develops and is tested through a series of urban adventures. Sound like the usual YA read? Not really. One of these teens is a Little. It starts with a sound - 'SCRITCH,SCRITCH, SCRITCH' - from behind the baseboards. Fourteen-year-old T.J. Moore is unhappy that her family (Mom, Dad, herself and elder brother Derek) has been forced by stock-market crashes to move from their farm to a new subdivision, and that she has had to give up her beloved horse Red. She knows no-one and misses her friends. Sixteen-year-old blue-haired Elizabeth Wood (Tetty to her family) gives T.J. the shock of her life when she walks out of a door in the baseboard and says, 'Oh, crap ... Don't swat me.' Elizabeth is tired of living in hiding and of all the rules and regs her strict parents insist upon to keep the Littles' existence a secret. Elizabeth has attitude in spades and calls her new Big friend a Goody Two-shoes. The next day, Elizabeth is gone and T.J. worries about her safety outdoors (at risk from cats, owls, hawks and dogs, amongst other predators). When they meet again, T.J. persuades Elizabeth to stay with her (the other Woods have moved out) until they can find her family or other Littles. T.J.'s Internet research has come up with an author, Sheri Piper, who's written books about Littles. They arrange to go to a booksigning (with Elizabeth hidden in a backpack, but are parted after T.J. is swarmed and her belongings stolen. This leads to separate adventures, in which T.J. shows plenty of backbone, and Elizabeth discovers a whole new fey world and the possibility of wings. Little (Grrl) Lost is magical YA urban fantasy. In it, T.J. learns that new places also come with new possibilities - a close friend and a boyfriend - and that she can stand up for herself and what she wants, while Elizabeth comes of age and discovers what she really wants from life. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Teens books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews