Format Read: ARC-e-book
Number of pages: 270 pages
Publishing: September 16th, 2025
Source: Books Forward
Opening Lines: "A gust of wind from the East blew Bran's hood off his head as he ran through the elder grove, eagerly searching for Gnomly."
Thirteen-year-old Bran, with the support of his inventor parents, has dedicated most of his time to creating the Vale, an immersive, AI-generated, virtual-reality world. So far, he's created Bran's Blue Forest and a Castle. He's even programmed the code for Gnomly, an AI elf that he's teaching to play hide and seek. Bran plans to showcase Gnomly's skills at the upcoming Invention Convention, aiming to win the prestigious million-dollar prize. Money that the family desperately needs to continue funding their inventions and to complete the Vale.
During the Expo, a series of unexpected mishaps and glitches occur within the Vale. A beautiful, and mysterious girl appears, and a wizard begins corrupting the Vale, even stealing from its inhabitants. Bran quickly loses control, as the elves and the wizard start acting independently, making decisions they shouldn't be capable of. Can Bran and Gnomly uncover the truth behind what is happening within the Vale in time to save it from being destroyed?
The Vale marks Abigail Hing Wen's middle-grade debut. Fans may recognize her from the Loveboat, Taipei series, which inspired the Netflix film Love in Taipei. Alongside the book's release, Wen is stepping into directing with a planned companion short film, The Vale-Origins, featuring Tony Award-winner Lea Salonga, known for Miss Saigon and the Disney classics Aladdin and Mulan.
Wen drew inspiration for the Vale from her previous background in the tech world. Her publisher, Third State is the first and only publishing house that is exclusively focused on publishing AAPI voices. I hope you'll visit their website and check out all their currently released books. https://thirdstatebooks.com/
Bran is a fascinating kid who describes himself as being in "asynchronous development," meaning his social emotional growth hasn't kept pace with his intellectual abilities. He's a bright kid who casually uses terms like chatbots, omnidirectional and haptic suits, while fully immersing himself in the Vale, where Gnomly is his only friend. Then he meets Piper, a part-time hacker who says she steers clear of anything illegal. Bran is instantly attracted to her as she eases his feelings of isolation and offers him alternatives to his interacting with software and programing. He begins to see the value in real world experiences.
I quite enjoyed how The Vale brings up ethical questions about the use of artificial intelligence. Highlighting the hazards of AI like using lip reading software designed for the hearing impaired to spy on people. Seemingly weaponizing software into ways that it was not intended. Wen also stresses that AI technology should be built by good, ethically reasonable people in a humancentric way. The story blends fantasy, the folklore of Brother's Grimm and The Magic Paintbrush with sci-fi and technology. It's both an entertaining and fascinating look at the ethics surrounding the use of artificial intelligence and raises many questions for the reader to explore. The full color illustration of Bran in the forest is my favorite one by Yuna Cheong and Brandon Wu it has these blue and purple hues with flowers and animals and Gnomly snickering while Bran is calling his name. Which is so like his character. There are also lovely black and white illustrations at the top of each chapter, so cute.
**A huge thank you to Books Forward for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.**
About the Author
Abigail Hing Wen is an author, film producer and director, as well as former tech executive. She is the New York Times bestselling author of multiple novels for young people, including Loveboat, Taipei, which has been adapted as the movie Love in Taipei, now on Netflix. Abigail served as an executive producer and on set during production. Her novel Kisses, Codes and Conspiracies, a thriller and romantic comedy novel featuring three teens on the run through the Bay Area, is an instant national bestseller, USA Today bestseller and Amazon Editor’s Pick for YA Book of the Month. Abigail is directing her first short film starring Lea Salonga, a prequel to her middle grade debut The Vale, coming September 2025, and featuring an inventor family that builds an AI generated virtual world. She serves on the board of Harvardwood and is a member of Dan Lin’s Rideback Rise Circle. In 2025, she served as a judge for the Golden Trailer Awards, recognizing the industry’s most outstanding film trailers.
Abigail is a frequent keynote speaker for young people, including Y’Allfest, US Presidential Scholars, and the Los Altos High Writer's Week, as well as libraries, colleges, high schools and bookstores around the country. She’s also given keynotes and fireside chats for the National Conference of State Legislatures, Meta, Google, Paramount, Paypal and other tech and entertainment companies, and spoken on panels at venues such as SDCC, LACC, LA Times Festival of Books and ALA. For more, visit AbigailHingWen.com.
Follow Abigail Hing Wen on social media:
Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and X/Twitter: @abigailhingwen
I hope you'll check out all the other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge's blog HERE
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