I should definitely have read this when I was younger. And I'm very sorry that I let my feelings for the ridiculous movie adaptation muddle Okay. Wow.
I should definitely have read this when I was younger. And I'm very sorry that I let my feelings for the ridiculous movie adaptation muddle my appetite for reading the actual book....more
The other day, a good friend and I were talking about the middle grades we were raised on.
To properly describe it, I’d have to draw forward the examplThe other day, a good friend and I were talking about the middle grades we were raised on.
To properly describe it, I’d have to draw forward the example of that scene from The Lightning Thief, where Percy sips ambrosia for the first time and finds that it tastes like his mother’s brownies � warm, fresh, soothing.
If I ever had the chance to taste test ambrosia for myself, I’m quite sure it’d taste like the books I chose carefully when I was younger: wild, deep-rooted in old folklore and enchantments, ancient and yet robust and timeless.
Not to say that I’d willingly drink down the taste of musty, pulpy paper and withering ink, as much as I love the real thing. I think it’d be more of a revitalizing tea or maybe a bracing lemonade laced with its fair share of sweet, earthy herbs that are wick to the very center, a few lumps of sugar to keep your spirits up as you run with wolves and hide in old hollows and maybe even find a new world where your winter coats should hang.
Lloyd Alexander, C.S. Lewis, Diana Wynne Jones (always, always Diana Wynne Jones) � they make up the core of my lifelong love story with children’s fantasy.
And so, now, Beastkeeper.
The story drew me in as all those other books did: a young, empathetic, headstrong heroine, an ancient family curse, stumbling through new circumstances and figuring out the set rules of magic with not much else than suspicious, talking animals, a questionable wild boy ally and previously untapped courage and love.
I am always won over by the promise of family devotion and love. And lovely prose. The prose, more than anything else, made me settle down and make a nest for myself within the story.
To quote one of my own GoodReads status updates from last night (at only 30% into my e-ARC!): “I am starting to realize what a covetous creature I am. And why authors often compare themselves to ravens. I am highlighting words and perfect phrases to attempt to feather my own nest of impossible ideas. Cat Hellisen is pulling out all the stops of her mastery of words thus far, and I must enviously bow to the fact that I'm so very enchanted and my seven-year-old self is giddily spooning it all into her mouth.�
(Another note I might add: I am quite picky about what goes into my nest.
I do not settle for any shade of yarn, any particular antique fork or old pocket watch or shining turn of phrase.
It has to be Just Right, like a tuning fork hitting the right frequency and jolting the rest of my heart into catching up and feeling like, “Yes, that word was meant to be right there.�
Hearing from the author herself that she was very much inspired by classic fantasy, particularly Diana Wynne Jones � her favorite, Dogsbody, was also the very first that I read! � and Susan Cooper also made me quite sure that she is very much my sort of people.)
"Sarah tiptoed along the landing towards her parents� room and wondered what flavor silence was, and if it grew hard and brittle if you threw it away, or if people sometimes stepped on wads of discarded silence and it stuck to the soles of their shoes and made their footfalls softer."
And
"Sarah tiptoed faster, the shadows clinging to her shoulders like shed ghost-skins."
Like that.
Exactly like that.
It also helps that Sarah is such a sympathetic wildwoods child. At times, I just wanted to hug her, to grasp her by her shoulders and tell her how I could see that she was trying, that she was giving it all � in her body’s strength and in her emotions � to figure out the tangled web around her family and the circumstances she was forced to shoulder merely for being born into a cursed family. And that is something that I feel children’s literature can address so well: the prices paid for jealousy and hatred, how it really feels to struggle under a parent’s sins and bear on as your normal world crumbles around you.
The particular details of the curse � how it devours her father and threatens her as well, even with her thinned blood and desperation not to succumb � are wrought in particularly deep and dark tones, and makes it all the more pressing for you to turn the page and find out how Sarah fares.
And now, a brief word on the ending. I am well aware that it will not be everyone’s cup of tea. Approaching Beastkeeper as I did, with the understanding that fairy tales have evolved as they have, as well as the knowledge that not every ending is happy (though, as you well know, many of those tales do and I myself am not at all averse to perfect conclusions), one twist in particular was very much expected.
Though it was still not that easy or less bitter to swallow.
To me, the entire denouement fit well with the story and the horrific curse as it stood. I won’t say more and spoil it for you, but I am well satisfied as it stood and the hope that (to me) it offered for the characters when the curtains closed. ...more
Perhaps if someone had bothered to tell me, as a child, that this involved the Holy Grail and a group of rather delightful siblings and a mysterious gPerhaps if someone had bothered to tell me, as a child, that this involved the Holy Grail and a group of rather delightful siblings and a mysterious great-uncle and adventures on holiday by the seaside, I would've read it sooner.
*shakes fist at all the people who neglected to recommend this to me way back when*...more
From the moment I saw the cover, I knew I had to read this. Why? Well, first of all, it looked fantabulously awesome, but when I was a kid (like a kidFrom the moment I saw the cover, I knew I had to read this. Why? Well, first of all, it looked fantabulously awesome, but when I was a kid (like a kid-kid, not a teenager like I am now) I was obsessed with Anastasia Romanov. Obsessed. As in, I thought she was still alive and waiting for rescue and her rightful throne somewhere.
I never claimed to be normal.
Anyway, during my brief stint of researching Anastasia and knowing everything there was to know about Anastasia's world, I fell in love with Russian history. Temporarily. Before Japan took over. I mean, what's there not to love? Samovars. Being wrapped up in furs so you can go on a sled ride. A dashingly evil prince set on marrying you so that he can take over the world, using you as his weapon.
No, wait, that's just Katerina.
This is not the Russia I used to research as a kid. It may be the 1880s - girls don't have a ton of rights, and dads sport handsome mustaches and talk about war and death and soldiers and such. And I do have to admit, Robin Bridges really did her research. One minute, you're admiring the insides of the royal palace, and the next you're surrounded by various paranormal creatures duking it out for power.
Yeah, I think Anastasia just lost her pedestal in my memory. Sorry, dear.
Katerina is charming and believable. She might be strong, but not strong enough to fight off Danilo's hypnotic charms - "Unhand me...oh, your eyes, they sparkle so...I think I love you" - and she does go for the right guy in the end. Sort of. And she wants to be a doctor. Don't you just love a girl who defies her gender role?
Also, I really like her hat. Can I have one, too?...more
This is one of my newest favorites in the children/MG arena. Sweet, hilarious - the right type of title to cleanse out all the angst I've been bombardThis is one of my newest favorites in the children/MG arena. Sweet, hilarious - the right type of title to cleanse out all the angst I've been bombarding myself with recently....more
That's pretty much what I went through when I "rediscovered" this litRead it once, retain fond memories.
Read it twice, and feel the love be rekindled.
That's pretty much what I went through when I "rediscovered" this little gem from my elementary school years. For ages, I'd passed it by on the library shelves, always putting it on the reread list for when I had time - and a lack of new, shiny titles to discover. It wasn't until I discovered that our library had gotten rid of BOTH COPIES (I mean, who does that to classic children's literature!) that I took the initiative to revive my childhood memories.
And what memories they are.
Journey to the River Sea is centered around Maia, a sweet young orphan who finds herself abruptly shuttled from her peaceful life in a British boarding school into the hands of unknown relatives, the Coopers, dwelling within exotic, untamed Brazil.What at first seems like a blessing in disguise - a new family, cousins to be played with and an entire new culture to absorb - soon turns out to be something quite different. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper, each with their both hilarious and slightly disturbing obsessions, need Maia simply for the money her parents have left behind. The twins are self-absorbed and quite nasty, and as a result of contact with the despicable Coopers, the locals are sullen and quite unwilling to open up to newcomers.
And of course there is Miss Minton - the stern-faced, unusual governess with an authentic replica of a Viking spear for a hatpin.
The story hardly ends up there, however. Maia isn't one to let her misery keep her from adventure. A young actor in dire straits due to impending puberty, an heir on a mission to escape the shackles of wealth waiting for him back in England, and two persistent crow-like investigators, not to mention the late author's constant dedication to research and beautiful detail - make each page literally breathtaking. It might be marketed for children, but believe me, if you are young at heart and like a good tale of kind hearts and determination winning over...well, not evil, but not very nice people either...this book will not disappoint you.
This is definitely one book that's going on my wish list to share with my children in the future. ...more
I can see why so many love this book. I wouldn't call it a childhood read, per se. It's more of the mind-boggling wordplay that made Alice in WonderlaI can see why so many love this book. I wouldn't call it a childhood read, per se. It's more of the mind-boggling wordplay that made Alice in Wonderland a choice book for analysts and the young at heart alike. To put an age on it is limiting the storyline.
It's a mixture of Alice, The Wizard of Oz, and various folklore about the fairy realm from around the world - even a pinch of some very familiar Greek myths...does a pomegranate mean anything to you?
At first, I found September Rather Heartless (which, the author reassures us quickly, is the state of most children), but eventually I couldn't help but feel for her and her mixed awe of Fairyland and bittersweet yearning for home and her absent parents.
Isn't that what we all feel when we realize that the grass isn't as green as we thought on the other side?
This is one you definitely don't want to miss.
[I would write a longer, more touching review, but I can't think of anything else that needs to be said. Perhaps I'll revise it later.]...more
This was one of the most amazing journeys I've taken through a book since I stepped through the closet into Narnia back in fourth grade. Well, it was This was one of the most amazing journeys I've taken through a book since I stepped through the closet into Narnia back in fourth grade. Well, it was amazing up until the part that I realized the author had fallen in with the crowd and decided to make it A TRILOGY.
But I digress.
So, the girl's name is Pru. She has a mom and dad and a drooling, but adorable, little brother named Mac. They have lovely times together - up until the point that Mac is swooped upon by a murder of crows and taken off to destinations unknown.
Then the ball really gets rolling.
To me, Pru was an awesome middle-grade heroine. She's smart, loves her family, and is determined to set things right at all costs. Curtis is your typical, awkward outsider - nerdy and obsessed with his comic book characters, but loyal to a fault...and sometimes, a bit too trusting, but that's another story. (It's also a bit amusing, and kinda cute, to note that Pru and Curtis look awfully like Colin and Carson.)
The entire story reads like a blend of all those magical childhood stories and fairy tales (and even a little bit of Robin Hood to sweeten the deal), and a bunch of awesome illustrations that really bring the book to life. At the risk of completely embarrassing myself by overly gushing, this is the type of story I hope that I'll be able to write someday.
If my recommendation isn't enough to sell you on this...for all you die-hard Series of Unfortunate Events fans (like moi), Lemony Snicket has a blurb on the back cover. Oh, yeah. You need to read it.
And if you're a Narnia purist? If C.S. Lewis were still around, I have a feeling he'd have written a blurb too.
Warnings: Some thematic violence...I guess. And maybe a few crude scenarios that come about when a kid is stranded in the woods without any chances of civilization. But nothing too bad, really.
Final verdict: Yes. And let's throw in a "gah this is on my wishlist PLEASE GET IT FOR ME" as well.
This book is like watching a black and white movie - the really old ones, like Harold Lloyd or Charlie Chaplin, with the beautiful scenery and the chaThis book is like watching a black and white movie - the really old ones, like Harold Lloyd or Charlie Chaplin, with the beautiful scenery and the characters that are as real and heart-rending as they are comical.
Hugo Cabret, the boy, the thief, the inventor trying to carry on the legacy of his dead father and solve the mystery of the automaton that they discovered. Paris, the city, the people, the crowded stations. The girl and the old man, the stand of toys - all gloriously rendered in silent black and white sketches that tell the story as clearly as the pages of text.
It's historical fiction and art and an adventure all in one. And believe me, that's not something I get to say about children's literature, especially in the increasing waves of vulgarity and cliches and decreasing quality....more
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