Lowry returns to the metaphorical future world of her Newbery-winning The Giver (1993) to explore the notion of foul reality disguised as fair. Born with a twisted leg, Kira faces a bleak future after her mother dies suddenly, leaving her without protection. Despite her gift for weaving and embroidery, the village women, led by cruel, scarred Vandara, will certainly drive the lame child into the forest, where the “beasts” killed her father, or so she’s been told. Instead, the Council of Guardians intervenes. In Kira’s village, the ambient sounds of voices raised in anger and children being slapped away as nuisances quiets once a year when the Singer, with his intricately carved staff and elaborately embroidered robe, recites the tale of humanity’s multiple rises and falls. The Guardians ask Kira to repair worn historical scenes on the Singer’s robe and promise her the panels that have been left undecorated. Comfortably housed with two other young orphans—Thomas, a brilliant wood-carver working on the Singer’s staff, and tiny Jo, who sings with an angel’s voice—Kira gradually realizes that their apparent freedom is illusory, that their creative gifts are being harnessed to the Guardians’ agenda. And she begins to wonder about the deaths of her parents and those of her companions—especially after the seemingly hale old woman who is teaching her to dye expires the day after telling her there really are no beasts in the woods. The true nature of her society becomes horribly clear when the Singer appears for his annual performance with chained, bloody ankles, followed by Kira’s long-lost father, who, it turns out, was blinded and left for dead by a Guardian. Next to the vividly rendered supporting cast, the gentle, kindhearted Kira seems rather colorless, though by electing at the end to pit her artistic gift against the status quo instead of fleeing, she does display some inner stuff. Readers will find plenty of material for thought and discussion here, plus a touch of magic and a tantalizing hint (stay sharp, or you’ll miss it) about the previous book’s famously ambiguous ending. A top writer, in top form. (author’s note) (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-618-05581-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2000
In a fantasy set in mythical lands surrounding the Pebbled Sea, four young people come to terms with the pain that life has dealt them, the prejudices they've inherited, and the unrecognized magical powers they were born with. The four come from varying backgrounds, but all have been misfits rankling against the restrictions that class and culture impose. Sandry (Lady Sandrilene fa Toren) feels "Good f'r naught but to be waited on and to marry." She longs to be useful and competent. Daja, the Trader girl, wants to be a metalworker, but making things is forbidden to traders. Briar, a streetwise thief, harbors a special affinity for plants, and Trisana, the Merchant girl, seems to have a direct line to the forces of nature itself. Mage Niklaren Goldeye brings all four to a disciplined temple community where their special gifts can flower. Pierce (Wild Magic, 1992, etc.) employs the trappings of magic, yet never invokes it as a convenient plot device imposed from without. Instead it appears as an inner strength that each of the fully realized, compelling young protagonists must discover and harness. Meditation and the Zen-like practice of hands-on crafts are their tools of mastery. First in a series, this is a rich and satisfying read. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-590-55356-9
Page Count: 252
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Monet's Ghost (151 pp.; $17.00; Jun. 1, 1997; 0-689-80732-5): More fantasy from Yarbro (for adults, Writ in Blood, p. 686, etc.), this time about a teenager who transports herself inside Monet's Water Lilies. Geena's gift for slipping ``sideways'' into museum paintings becomes a burden when she enters Monet's masterpiece and cannot get out. There she encounters the priggish Crispin and his aunt, Lucrece, and learns that a ``ghost'' haunts their castle, changing their clothing, buildings, hair, and landscapes on a whim. Geena, in an attempt to find her way out of the painting and learn more about the ghost, meets Monet and asks him to paint her an exit. Yarbro tosses out many intriguing ideas and dwells on none for long; the playful proposition—that an art-lover can put herself into the paintings, literally as well as figuratively—may lure readers in, but will not hold them. (b&w illustrations) (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: June 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-689-80732-5
Page Count: 151
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1997
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
