Esmerine has only just become a siren when her older sister Dosia, also a siren, disappears into the human world. Mermaids...
A mermaid braves the human world to find her lost sister and to seek her only love in this new fantasy.
Esmerine has only just become a siren when her older sister Dosia, also a siren, disappears into the human world. Mermaids can grow legs temporarily and live on land although, as in Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, walking is terribly painful for them. But Esmerine not only longs for her sister, she’d like to locate her childhood friend Alander, a winged man-creature, for whom she secretly longs. Esmerine quickly finds him in the bookstore he runs, and although she’s sure no romance is possible, she can’t seem to tear herself away from him. He agrees to carry her on his back in a flight to the mountains to find Dosia, and adventures ensue. Dolamore writes in a simple style that feels more middle-grade than teen, but her story should also appeal to middle- and younger high-school readers, making this a good hi-lo choice. She displays plenty of imagination, especially in her setting, with its 19th-century-style clothing and quaint towns. The portraits of her two leads will convince readers, and several of her minor characters, such as ex-mermaid Belawyn and Alander’s father, stand out as quirky and individual.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59990-434-4
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In vibrant language and with great energy, Pierce spins out the story of Sandry (Circle of Magic, 1997) for the Circle Opens quartet. At 14, Lady Sandrilene—Sandry—has endured the loss of her family, danger, and tragedy, but she has mastered her magic, which she can spin and knot and weave like thread. She’s staying with her great uncle, the Duke, trying to keep him from overwork after an illness, and cheering him with her spirit and sharp mind. She will exert both in the face of two events: a family of unscrupulous merchants is being slaughtered under the very noses of their protectors; and a local boy named Pasco is mightily resisting his own magic. Sandry must begin to teach Pasco, and does so by enlisting her own teacher and one of the most famous dancers of the realm. While there is darkness and violence, Sandry works with strength and confidence to overcome them, secure in the love of her uncle and her teachers. It ends well, and with the promise of more stirring tales to come. (Fiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-590-39588-2
Page Count: 261
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Though bursting with bloody battles, romance and sacrifice, this archetypal-hero legend falls prey to unsubtle prose and uneasy racial constructions. In 880 BCE Norway, Freydis survives a pirate attack by her Viking father’s blood-feud foe, but she’s wounded and her brother is kidnapped. Their hateful father, Ohthere, sails for rescue and vengeance, dumping Freydis with the Sami, a northern tribe. Unbeknownst to Ohthere, brother Toki escapes pirate captivity and befriends another tribe, the Beormas. Ohthere gifts Freydis an African slave named Enno, who has warrior marks on his cheeks but no named culture or religion; he’s stereotypically proud and rebellious but values Freydis’s life above his freedom. Slavery here is an unsavory combination of destiny and convenient narrative vehicle for getting a dark-skinned man to Norway for plot purposes. The Sami and Beormas exhibit a romanticism oft assigned to tribal peoples. The aftermath of Freydis’s ultimate battle sacrifice will tug heartstrings—but only if readers persist through several hundred pages of plodding, overexplanatory prose that makes revelations and epic import feel lukewarm. (author’s note, glossary) (Historical fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5725-1
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2010
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