However palpable, Zilpha Snyder's world is always at an intriguing remove from reality; and when, as in The Egypt Game, her characters plunge intensely into make-believe, there are few girls who will not plummet after. Although—or perhaps because—divested of its strange, prickling nimbus, this becomes the transformation of fat, seven-year-old Marty Mouse, the nonentity in a self-assured, preoccupied household, into beautiful blonde Martha Abbott, the Sophomore "who's in all the school plays." Meanwhile Ivy Carson, self-proclaimed changeling, can't escape the family reputation for shiftlessness and worse. Their affinity is most firmly forged in play-acting the Tree People, an evasion for Ivy but a catharsis for Martha who masters the meanest role. Repeatedly the Carsons leave under a cloud only to return, and increasingly Martha is torn between loyalty to Ivy and the past, and the social pressures/ lures of the present. In eighth grade Ivy would pledge them not to grow up—to "Know all the Questions, but not the Answers—Look for the Different, instead of the Same—Never Walk when there's room for Running—Don't do anything that can't be a Game." But when she beats out contemptuous Kelly Peters for the lead dancer's role in the school play, the sky falls: Kelly accuses Ivy and Martha of vandalism and only brother Tom Abbott's disclosure that he was in the raid led by a 'respectable' dope-pushing classmate clears them. It is the turning point for Martha, the Abbotts becoming more attentive, less complacent, and the vanishing point for Ivy—a subsequent letter tells that she's in New York studying dancing; it is also the weakest point in the book. But once magicked, the reader is not to be dislodged by a topical intrusion or a Cinderella (re)version.
Pub Date: Sept. 8, 1979
ISBN: 0595321801
Page Count: 227
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1970
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Ideal for readers seeking perspectives on war, with a heavy dash of romance and touch of fantasy.
A war between gods plays havoc with mortals and their everyday lives.
In a time of typewriters and steam engines, Iris Winnow awaits word from her older brother, who has enlisted on the side of Enva the Skyward goddess. Alcohol abuse led to her mother’s losing her job, and Iris has dropped out of school and found work utilizing her writing skills at the Oath Gazette. Hiding the stress of her home issues behind a brave face, Iris competes for valuable assignments that may one day earn her the coveted columnist position. Her rival for the job is handsome and wealthy Roman Kitt, whose prose entrances her so much she avoids reading his articles. At home, she writes cathartic letters to her brother, never posting them but instead placing them in her wardrobe, where they vanish overnight. One day Iris receives a reply, which, along with other events, pushes her to make dramatic life decisions. Magic plays a quiet role in this story, and readers may for a time forget there is anything supernatural going on. This is more of a wartime tale of broken families, inspired youths, and higher powers using people as pawns. It flirts with clichéd tropes but also takes some startling turns. Main characters are assumed White; same-sex marriages and gender equality at the warfront appear to be the norm in this world.
Ideal for readers seeking perspectives on war, with a heavy dash of romance and touch of fantasy. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-85743-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
The well-paced romantic tension is a highlight of this enjoyable duology closer.
Even a war driven by gods can’t sever communication between journalist lovers Iris and Roman in this steampunk-adjacent romantic adventure.
A prologue sets the scene: Dacre, a god strummed to sleep by magic in Divine Rivals (2023), will not slumber forever. His willingness to wage war to acquire more powerful magic leads him to lay waste to entire towns, and Inkridden Tribune journalist Iris Winnow and war correspondent Roman Kitt can no longer be assured the other is safe—or even still alive. In Iris’ world of cigarette smoke, copper pipes, and driving goggles, colleagues affectionately call each other by their last names, watch each other’s backs, and face danger on the front lines. Though Underling Correspondent Roman is traveling with Dacre’s army, he questions why he was healed of his grievous wounds, while at the same time, he gradually recovers memories of Iris and recalls that she was special to him. Their magically connected typewriters allow for the rediscovery of their love and for communicating potentially deadly information about the invasion of Hawk Shire. The story primarily unfolds from Iris’ and Roman’s viewpoints, and while the prose occasionally uses well-worn phrases, Anglophiles will particularly enjoy the worldbuilding, and returning readers will welcome appearances from Capt. Keegan Torres; her wife, Marisol; and Dacre’s archnemesis—and wife—the goddess Enva. Main characters present white.
The well-paced romantic tension is a highlight of this enjoyable duology closer. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250857453
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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