When Oliver (Olly) Appletonâs grandfather dies in a suspicious accident, his family decides to move to Littleton, Massachusetts, to care for the family estate. Once there, they discover they need to protect their land from a greedy mall developer, Henry Dalton.
Sitting atop Oak Hill, the estate sits in an enchanted wooded sanctuary known for unusual activities and superstitions involving mythical creatures â rumors passed down since the Nipmuc people roamed the land.
When Olly and his new friend, Ember, run into trouble with school bullies, the creatures known as Spores step in to protect them. Through their adventures, Olly and Ember build friendships with members of the Spore community and discover a common goal. They must work together quickly to protect Oak Hill from Henry Dalton or lose their homes forever.
When Oliver (Olly) Appletonâs grandfather dies in a suspicious accident, his family decides to move to Littleton, Massachusetts, to care for the family estate. Once there, they discover they need to protect their land from a greedy mall developer, Henry Dalton.
Sitting atop Oak Hill, the estate sits in an enchanted wooded sanctuary known for unusual activities and superstitions involving mythical creatures â rumors passed down since the Nipmuc people roamed the land.
When Olly and his new friend, Ember, run into trouble with school bullies, the creatures known as Spores step in to protect them. Through their adventures, Olly and Ember build friendships with members of the Spore community and discover a common goal. They must work together quickly to protect Oak Hill from Henry Dalton or lose their homes forever.
Oren Appleton was walking back to his house on Oak Hill after his customary Saturday visit to downtown Littleton. Since the death of his wife, the walk into town offered him the chance to talk with real people after toiling away on his house projects all week. With his hands full of supplies from Sawyer's Hardware, he walked up Oak Ridge Road, the only paved road that led up to his house â which sat dead center atop Oak Hill.
It was a warm summer evening and the sun was setting. He stepped to the beat of a show tune he was whistling. A very quiet whistle, slightly off-tune and off-beat, accompanied Oren's â it came from the leather satchel hanging over his shoulder. This duet made Oren smile.
He was so focused on the tune and his whistling partner that he didn't hear the engine of the vehicle approaching. It approached quickly and accelerated as it got closer to Oren. It was the crunching sound of the gravel directly behind him that made Oren turn. It was the last thing he would see and hear, as his body flew through the air and onto the ground. The force of the impact threw his body off the road and into a gully 15 feet away. Life had instantly left Oren. Without hesitation, the vehicle shifted into reverse and drifted back down the road and out of sight.
After ten minutes, the leather satchel next to Oren rustled with some movement, and the leather roping that had been cinched at the top of the satchel started to unravel from the inside. Very slowly, a small creature pulled its body out of the bag, stood, and slowly looked around to see what had happened. The creature was about the size of a common salt shaker you would find in a diner, and resembled a mushroom, but with a slightly thicker stem. Just like a mushroom, it seemed to wear a maroon and white mushroom cap on top of its head. Its arms and legs fit so snugly into the stem, that if it was standing upright and perfectly still in the woods you wouldn't know it from a garden-variety mushroom. Its small black eyes and a hardly-discernible mouth gave it a childlike and friendly expression. The skin had turned a bluish tint from the accident but gradually faded back to its normal off-white color as it shook off the impact to its body.
With a slight limp, it stepped away from the sawdust-filled satchel and toward Oren's face. It knew instantly there was no life left in Oren, and it slumped with sadness before it started off into the woods with what sounded like a sniffle.
Five minutes had passed and the creature came back from the woods to Oren's body, dragging a large clump of pink and white clover flowers behind. It slowly plucked the flowers off the stems, and arranged them in a circle all around Oren's head while whistling the rest of the show tune that he and Oren had started together. When the supply of clovers ran out, it stood silently for a moment and then walked off into the dark woods of Oak Hill. The forest was oddly silent and still.
A cryptic map. A statue. A key. Gold nuggets. A strange symbol and a hole in a wall. A hidden door and a greedy developer bent on destroying a quiet community with a shopping mall. All this and more can be found between the pages of Glenn Somodi's delightful and enchanting Olly and the Spores of Oak Hill .
As the book opens, Oren Appleton is dead. The âgeeky, nature-lovingâ former Harvard professor died under suspicious circumstances. He left everything to his son and grandson, Oliver âOllyâ Appleton. Olly and his parents move from Ohio to Littleton, Massachusetts to claim their inheritance and a world of mystery in this charming story that will captivate and delight middle grade readers.
Fifteen year-old Olly has a passion for plants and nature. In fact, heâs a ânature geekâ just like his beloved and eccentric grandfather, also known as âPoppy.â When Olly and his mom and dad arrive in Massachusetts, Olly soon discovers that thereâs more to Oak Hill than meets the eye. Turns out Poppyâs estate is located in an enchanted wood. Rumors of little creatures living in the woods around Littleton, MA abound. According to legend, these little creatures are called âNikommo.â Olly and his new friend, Ember, are about to find out how these creatures are connected to the Appletons, Oak Hill, and the future.
Meanwhile, Olly and Em discover a secret door. It has them wondering if maybe Oren Appleton wasnât so "crazy" after all. Thereâs also Puckwudgies. Puffball dust. Protein pucks. The Green Beast. Clover. A water tower. Blue moss and a Colorado correspondent named Amanita Muscaria (mushroom connoisseurs will get that).
Olly also learns that a greedy business man, Henry Dalton, has plans to develop a mall on the Appleton property under "eminent domain," destroying Oak Hill in the process. Can Olly and Em dodge the town bullies and save Oak Hill and their friends from the avaricious Dalton before itâs too late?
Sturdy writing and compelling characterizations propel this engaging and enjoyable read like a blast from a fire hose. Or a squeeze from a puffball. (Youâll have to read the book to get that.) The story also encourages kindness to animals, responsible stewardship of natural resources, and the protection of endangered species.
Overall, this book is Just. Plain. Fun. Witty and whimsical, Olly and the Spores of Oak Hill features prodigious world-building skills, clever word play, and some really awful puns that are sure to tickle your funny bone. Itâs an absorbing and entertaining weft of imagination, inspiration, mystery, and discovery, with characters youâll want to come back to again and again (except for Buzz Dalton and Trent McNabb). Incidentally, the cover art is awesome.
Keep any eye out for more adventures with Olly and Ember and their Spore best friends, Cremini, Bella, Truffles, and Magpie (mushroom fans will get that, too). Because Olly and the Spores of Oak Hill is the first book in a series of adventures. More to follow. So stay tuned! I canât wait!