You probably missed this one, seeing as it came out in 1986, the author never really exploded in popularity and viral wasn’t really a thing. However I consider this series one of my absolute favorites, and a must read for fantasy loving teens. Mary Brown wrote not one but four books about a girl who can talk to animals who goes on an extraordinary journey and managed to make them all beautiful and different despite being entangled and based on a now familiar trope.
The Unlikely Ones is the prequel, following Thing and her companions, a crow, a toad, a goldfish, and a kitten, who are liberated from the cruel witch who cursed them and who journey to find a way to life their curse, a series of jewels embedded in them. While the world is fantasy the story covers the grittier, less pretty aspects of travel, like strange things in the night, ghosts, unfriendly (or too friendly) natives, and the crushing pressure of overcoming trauma inflicted on you while also remaining strong enough to help others, less fortunate, overcome theirs.
This book is beautifully written, with all the hallmarks of a classic fairy tale; horror, wonder, unicorns, dragons, wizards, and a little time travel. It’s a timeless coming of age tale that’s easy to overlook with all the flashy new YA and new adult books since. Contemporaries include Tanith Lee and Francesca Lia Block.
It’s not my favorite of the series, but it manages to be a stand out from even Brown’s other tales, being familiar, but also a different reimagining of her own tales.
The Unlikely Ones is available along with the new two in the series in ebook form as Here There Be Dragonnes on Amazon.