The Parliament

August 1, 2023

When tens of thousands of angry owls descend on the town library, Madigan Purdy is trapped there with her students, whom she tries desperately to distract. Leaving isn't an option unless you want to be beak-and-taloned to death. What do the owls want? Following Self-Portrait with Nothing, a New York Times Best Fantasy; with a 50,000-copy first printing. Prepub Alert.

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Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 1, 2023

Pokwatka (Self-Portrait with Nothing) tucks a Maurice Sendak fairy tale into a nature-attacks horror novel when she traps chemist Madigan Purdy in a library with a group of tweens. Purdy developed a host of coping mechanisms to deal with the long-ago death of a friend--from reading survival guides to juggling to emotional unavailability. But even that trauma is unable to prepare her for a flock of tiny, ravenous owls that will deflesh a human in minutes if they step through the library doors. The group's main source of comfort is Purdy's favorite childhood novel, which they read between frantic attempts to establish communication with the rest of town. It's a charming book, but with the stilted feel of classic children's storybooks. This allows the children to thoughtfully, if sometimes angrily, critique it, which keeps the analytical parts of their minds sparking, demonstrating that the fiction shelves are just as vital to their survival as the library's nonfiction resources. VERDICT Must-read fantasy for readers who appreciate the catharsis of horror; perfect for fans of Whalefall by Daniel Kraus and Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison.--Matthew Galloway

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 16, 2023
Pokwatka (Self=Portrait with Nothing) delivers a nail-biting fantasy thriller that bounces back and forth between an all-too-familiar scene of children and adults sheltering in place in a public library and their distraction during this time of crisis: a children’s novel called The Silent Queen. It’s not the threat of gun violence that they’re hiding from, however, but an attack of “murder owls,” an enormous swarm known to tear through barriers of clothing and into flesh. Among the trapped is chemist Madigan Purdy, who had been volunteering to teach a children’s science class and is unnervingly reminded of her own childhood experience of a school shooting. Now, as the adult in charge, she must turn her efforts to protecting her students. Excerpts from The Silent Queen, which Megan reads to calm the children, provide a necessary respite from the unrelenting tension. Pokwatka manages both a unique exploration of the effects of trauma, especially on children, and a thoroughly moving portrayal of the power of solidarity in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, combined with a healthy dose of rage at the lack of care and effort on the part of the government to combat gun violence. The result is a suspenseful and gripping argument for change.

November 1, 2023
Mad Purdy has agreed to teach a chemistry class for middle-school students at her hometown library. The birds are already gathering, but nobody takes note until the network goes down and one of the librarians goes outside to check the lines. The birds descend quickly, with gruesome results. All Mad wants is to protect these kids, but she also has to contend with being trapped in a building with her peers, people she had been friends with before and after the school shooting she witnessed at age 11. On her way through the library, she finds a copy of a childhood favorite, The Silent Queen. She reads it out loud as a distraction, and it serves as a counterpoint to the increasingly dire situation inside the library. They're going to have to find a creative solution to escape, but fortunately, the library contains a wealth of knowledge. This is a tense rendering of an incomprehensibly strange situation in which nobody on the outside seems to care enough to help, and survival is only the first challenge--there's also living afterward.

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