The magic of Oz endures in this sequel, where Dorothy Gale finds herself whisked away once more, not to Kansas, but to a strange intersection of roads where nothing leads quite where expected. She joins forces with the Shaggy Man, whose good heart conceals a mysterious past; Button-Bright, a boy who cannot remember where he belongs; and Polychrome, the Daughter of the Rainbow, as flighty and beautiful as sunlight through mist. Together they stumble toward the Emerald City, encountering along the way a Musical Saw that plays without a player, fearsome Scoodlers who demand tolls, a kettle of endless soup, and a pond that speaks only truth. Baum's storytelling glows with early twentieth-century warmth, his Oz still a place where kindness conquers cruelty and the lost find their way home. The road to Oz is, as ever, less about destination than the strange companions you meet along the way.
