Full disclosure: I’ll read (and probably love) anything Kate DiCamillo writes. So I might not be what you’d call an “objective reviewer” here, but I’d wager that anyone who’s read even ONE Kate DiCamillo book is in the same boat. It’s only natural.

But listen, when a book comes with the kind of pedigree that The Beatryce Prophecy does – written by a two-time Newbery Medalist and illustrated by two-time Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall – it sets some fairly high expectations.

Thankfully, I’m here to report that The Beatryce Prophecy (Candlewick Press) delivers.

(Listen to my conversation with Kate here, and watch the adorable Questions from a Kid chat with her here.)

Kate DiCamillo has an uncanny ability to write beautiful, heart-rending stories with the simplest of language. It’s a signature move that has made her beloved by generations of readers. In using deceptively simple sentences and clear language, DiCamillo subtly manipulates your emotions and makes you care – deeply – for characters.

“What world is this I now inhabit, and how shall I live in it?”

I mean, I was on board with The Beatryce Prophecy before I even opened the book. But even if you aren’t… even if you’ve never read a Kate DiCamillo book before (Shame!)… I defy you to read this opening and NOT fall in love immediately.

The story follows young Beatryce, who mysteriously shows up at the monastery of the Order of the Chronicles of Sorrowing. (Side note: DiCamillo’s name game is, as ever, ON POINT.) Brother Edik – and the ornery goat Answelica – discover Beatryce and quickly uncover her secret.

She can read.

In a world where literacy is the exclusive domain of only a very few men, a young girl who can read and write is sure to cause more than a few ripples. And that’s putting it mildly.

Edik recognizes that her abilities mark her as more than a curiosity – she’s a target. Her life is threatened because of a prophecy that he himself wrote (see above). The king (who used “creative interpretation” of a prophecy to gain power) cannot let Beatryce be the girl another prophecy claims will be his downfall.

“How could people send their children away?
How did anybody say goodbye to someone they loved?
But that was what the world demanded, wasn’t it?
Again and again, the world insisted upon betrayals and goodbyes.
How could anyone bear it?”

As Beatryce’s story unfolds, the reader is treated to many classic DiCamillo themes: words have power, true friends even more so, our imaginations are an endless source of magic, and kindness is always the answer.

Like many of DiCamillo’s characters (notably Raymie, Louisiana, and Beverly), Beatryce has had – and continues to have – a difficult life. Hers has not been an easy road to walk, but despite all the odds… despite living in a world that is actively designed to see her fail… she somehow soldiers on with a shatterproof sense of optimism.

And it’s that optimism – that belief in the ultimate good at the center of everyone and everything, even a demon disguised as the world’s meanest goat – that wins the day.

“The sun, unbelievably, continued to shine.”

More importantly, that optimism forms the beating heart of The Beatryce Prophecy, and it’s exactly what we need right now. Hope. Light. Love. Belief that things can get better. And a desire to actively make things better.

I feel like Kate DiCamillo’s books are birthed into the world at precisely the right time… at exactly the moment when we need them most. The Beatryce Prophecy is no different. Though I’m sure they weren’t intentional, there are many striking parallels with the current situation in Afghanistan.

And thus is the true power of the book: it is both timely and timeless.

“We shall all, in the end, be led to where we belong. We shall all, in the end, find our way home.”