THE SAGA OF GUDRID THE FAR-TRAVELER

Name: THE SAGA OF GUDRID THE FAR-TRAVELER
Author: Nancy Marie Brown
ISBN: 978-1-60898-189-2

by Nancy Marie Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 2015

Well-written, thoroughly researched and adventure-filled, this story of a determined and very human young woman is timeless.

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A story inspired by medieval Icelandic sagas tells the life of Gudrid, a Viking woman who lived 1,000 years ago and whose life Brown told for adults in The Far Traveler (2007).

The daughter of an Icelandic chieftain, Gudrid has been promised from birth to the son of Eirik the Red. Instead, she runs away with handsome Einar. When the couple’s ship wrecks on a rocky island, it is her slighted betrothed, Leif Eiriksson, homeward bound after a trading journey, who finds them. Gudrid, with the artful resourcefulness she displays throughout the book, convinces an unhappy Leif to both rescue them and accept their marriage. In the Viking world, it’s all about acquisition and alliance, and Gudrid, an intelligent, independent thinker, is no slouch in these departments. Over the course of the story, she marries three times—all men of her choosing—amasses a ship, a farm, and treasure of her own, and sails to Vinland (modern-day Newfoundland). Brown writes with admirable restraint; she doesn’t say Vikings didn’t know navigation using latitude and longitude, she simply doesn’t mention timepieces or compasses, instead offering their observations of wind and the habits of seabirds. Likewise, the unending chores of Gudrid’s daily life are delivered with an informational matter-of-factness that illuminates both the activity and the lifestyle.

Well-written, thoroughly researched and adventure-filled, this story of a determined and very human young woman is timeless. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 12-18)

Pub Date: June 15, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-60898-189-2

Page Count: 204

Publisher: Namelos

Review Posted Online: March 10, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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BETWEEN SISTERS

by Adwoa Badoe ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2010

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Ghanaian teenager Gloria Bampo has hit a rough patch. She failed most of her school exams, her long-unemployed father has lost himself to religion and her mother is ravaged by a mysterious sickness. Her one consolation, her older sister Effie, has discovered boys and all but disappeared. Gloria is offered a job in a distant city with Christine, a doctor who needs househelp. Her father is quick to assent, with one condition: In lieu of payment, Christine must take responsibility for Gloria's future and adopt her as a sister. Gloria adjusts easily, studies hard and explores her newfound freedom. But when the temptations of her new life—brand-name clothes and handsome doctors—prove hard to resist, a misunderstanding cuts a rift between Gloria and Christine. Each must confront class stereotypes and re-examine the meaning of family. Badoe's sharp and engaging prose unfolds the story with spryness, deftly navigating readers through heady social issues. But she wastes readers' goodwill at the end with a conclusion both haphazard and overly moralistic, jarringly out of place in this otherwise thoughtful and well-excuted novel. (Ghanaian glossary) (Fiction. YA)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010

ISBN: 978-88899-996-2

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Groundwood

Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2010

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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by Adwoa Badoe & illustrated by Baba Wagué Diakité

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WHEN I WAS JOE

by Keren David ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2010

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When 14-year-old Ty witnesses a brutal murder involving neighborhood thugs, he and his mom are put into a witness-protection program in a small town far away from their East London home. Now named Joe, Ty enters a new school a year behind and finds himself haunted by his past and torn between two girls: Ellie, a physically disabled teen who trains able-bodied runners, and her sister, Ashley. Despite lots of Briticisms and the occasional longwinded spells of narration, David pens a mostly fast-moving page-turner. Her characterizations feel mostly fully fleshed, and their dialogue rings true. The staunchly un-Americanized text results in some odd, culturally specific references that could confuse some readers unfamiliar with the milieu: Kissing Ashley makes Ty's body sizzle like sausages in a pan, for instance. The contemplative pages within the blood-spattered cover may disappoint readers more drawn to gore than to the self-reflection the experience renders in Ty. However, if teens can move past these speed bumps, they’ll find a complex, engaging read about a boy starting a new life by escaping his past. (Thriller. 12 & up)