The Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli

May I begin by saying that Donna jo Napoli is by far one of my FAVORITE authors!! Every book I have read by her so far become my new favorite...and this particular book is no exception.The reviews below, provided by Amazon.com. sum up the book well, but I can just tell you that I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book.

From Publishers Weekly
A midwife-cum-sorceress known simply as the Ugly One narrates this riveting tale of how, tricked by the devil's minions, she lost her gifts for healing and was forced to become a witch. Escaping from the stake, where she is about to be burned, she ekes out a solitary existence in an enchanted forest--until she takes in two wandering children named Hansel and Gretel. As she did in The Prince of the Pond , Napoli gives a classic fairy tale an entirely new twist, at the same time incorporating absorbing details about medieval religious beliefs. The witch's "true" history as a devoted mother and pious servant of God renders her a compelling and entirely sympathetic figure, a heroine courageously fighting the evil spirits that have invaded her once-pure life. The Hansel and Gretel motif, carefully woven into the story, emerges as a surprise for the reader, albeit a surprise that has been fully prepared. The author's extraordinary craftsmanship and originality never flag, and even the archetypically fiery ending for the witch acquires a new dimension. A YA novel of genuine magic and suspense, this will captivate adults as well. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews
The author of The Prince in the Pond (1992) leaps from that comic take on ``The Frog Prince'' to a dark, deeply thoughtful novel whose gifted, driven, and wholly sympathetic protagonist is Hansel and Gretel's witch. The hunchback known as ``Ugly One'' is a midwife who becomes a healer when she learns to draw, with a blessed object, a magic circle that cannot be invaded by the devil's minions; from safely within it, she can command them to leave their victims. But the demons eventually trick her with a ring she hopes to give her beloved daughter, now of an age to marry. Now the sorceress who has commanded devils becomes a witch subject to their demands; still, with great care, she avoids the potent temptation to devour a child, which would complete her damnation. Hansel and Gretel's arrival, in the novel's last pages, is a cruel test; with extraordinary artistry, Napoli shapes a conclusion in which the witch finds redemption by collaborating with a clever Gretel, who senses the meaning of her fiery death. Writing in a beautifully honed first-person present and summoning splendid imagery well grounded in folklore, psychology, and the natural world, Napoli delves into the mind and heart of a fascinating figure embodying Faust and Marguerite in one--a nurturer and lover of true beauty whose inner being is never truly corrupted by the dangerous knowledge she dares to exert on others' behalf. Richly poetic yet accessible and immediate; pungent and wise; mesmerizing. Splendid jacket by the Dillons. (Fiction. 11+) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Specs:

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: Puffin (June 1, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0140374396
ISBN-13: 978-0140374391

Mara's Stories by Gary D. Schmidt

From School Library Journal
Gr 5-8-This collection framed as tales told within the concentration camps by a young woman named Mara is not completely successful as a cohesive whole. The book includes holocaust tales as well as traditional rabbinical stories set at that time. The selections range from accounts of escapes from being put into the camps to finding hope within the camps to betrayals and choices. Some are truly transcendent while others are simply filler. The use of Mara as a storyteller seems artificial and takes away from the power of the stories. Most of them could be used in a classroom situation, although they may be more useful in a religious setting than in a secular one. Schmidt includes extensive source notes for each story, giving the origins and explaining how he has changed some of them for this book. Hazel Rochman and Darlene Z. McCampbell's Bearing Witness: Stories of the Holocaust (Orchard, 1995) remains the best collection for children, but libraries with a strong Jewish patronage and a need for additional Holocaust literature may want to add Mara's Stories.

Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Gr. 4-8. In the barracks of a concentration camp, a girl named Mara tells stories at night to the women and children to help push back the darkness. The deceptively simple tellings draw on the Hasidic tradition and range from legends of magical realism and trickster tales of escape to simple prayers. Some are folktales that actually grew up in the camps, with settings that include the roundups, the selections, even the gas chambers. The writing occasionally verges on the sentimental ("And he will always weep, my children. He will always weep"), but Mara's voice keeps things quiet, and for readers who want more background, Schmidt provides many pages of fascinating notes about the history and tradition he is drawing on. A few of the stories are unforgettable, rooted in the Yiddish idiom and in folklore and faith. With dark humor, the story "A Globe," barely two pages long, about the refugees who can't find a country to take them in, will make a powerful read-aloud for the Holocaust curriculum. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Specs:

Reading level: Young Adult

Library Binding: 154 pages
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1439557241
ISBN-13: 978-1439557242

An American Plague by Jim Murphy

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-10-If surviving the first 20 years of a new nationhood weren't challenge enough, the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, centering in Philadelphia, was a crisis of monumental proportions. Murphy chronicles this frightening time with solid research and a flair for weaving facts into fascinating stories, beginning with the fever's emergence on August 3, when a young French sailor died in Richard Denny's boardinghouse on North Water Street. As church bells rang more and more often, it became horrifyingly clear that the de facto capital was being ravaged by an unknown killer. Largely unsung heroes emerged, most notably the Free African Society, whose members were mistakenly assumed to be immune and volunteered en masse to perform nursing and custodial care for the dying. Black-and-white reproductions of period art, coupled with chapter headings that face full-page copies of newspaper articles of the time, help bring this dreadful episode to life. An afterword explains the yellow fever phenomenon, its causes, and contemporary outbreaks, and source notes are extensive and interesting. Pair this work with Laurie Halse Anderson's wonderful novel Fever 1793 (S & S, 2000) and you'll have students hooked on history.
Mary R. Hofmann, Rivera Middle School, Merced, CA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 6-12. History, science, politics, and public health come together in this dramatic account of the disastrous yellow fever epidemic that hit the nation's capital more than 200 years ago. Drawing on firsthand accounts, medical and non-medical, Murphy re-creates the fear and panic in the infected city, the social conditions that caused the disease to spread, and the arguments about causes and cures. With archival prints, photos, contemporary newspaper facsimiles that include lists of the dead, and full, chatty source notes, he tells of those who fled and those who stayed--among them, the heroic group of free blacks who nursed the ill and were later vilified for their work. Some readers may skip the daily details of life in eighteenth-century Philadelphia; in fact, the most interesting chapters discuss what is now known of the tiny fever-carrying mosquito and the problems created by over-zealous use of pesticides. The current struggle to contain the SARS epidemic brings the "unshakeable unease" chillingly close. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Specs:

Reading level: Ages 9-12

Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: Clarion Books (June 23, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0395776082
ISBN-13: 978-0395776087

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7–When her parents, the king and queen of Wonderland, are killed by her Aunt Redd, Alyss Heart escapes by jumping into the Pool of Tears. Her jump takes her to Victorian Oxford, where she emerges from a puddle, lives as a street urchin, and is eventually adopted by Reverend and Mrs. Liddell. Unable to make anyone believe her fantastic story, she finally confides in Charles Dodgson, who says he will write a book about her. When she discovers that Alice's Adventures Underground is full of make-believe, and not her story or her real name, she sadly resigns herself to life as a Victorian girl of privilege. Meanwhile, back in Wonderland, the Alyssians form a resistance movement and attempt to overthrow the despotic Redd. For years, Hatter Madigan searches the world for Alyss so she can return to Wonderland as Queen. In the end, the Alyssians prevail, but only after much graphic bloodshed and many brutal battles involving card soldiers who transform into warriors, chessmen, blades that whirl and slash, vicious Jabberwocks, and even carnivorous roses. The tale is clever and flows like an animated film where action is more important than character development. However, it bears little resemblance to Lewis Carroll's original story. Beddor has usurped the characters and setting and changed them for his own purposes, keeping only the story's frame and not much of that. Still, the fantasy will appeal to those readers who like battles and weapons and good vs. evil on and on and on.–Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Alyss Heart, heir to the Wonderland throne, is forced to flee when her vicious aunt Redd murders her parents, the King and Queen of Hearts. She escapes through the Pool of Tears to Victorian London, but she finds she has no way home. Adopted by the Liddells, who christen her Alice Liddell and disapprove of her wild stories about Wonderland, Alyss begs Charles Dodgson to tell her real story. Even though he writes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, she knows no one believes her. Years go by, with Alice repressing her memories. Then royal bodyguard Hatter Madigan, determined to start a war for Wonderland's throne, crashes her wedding. Beddor offers some intriguing reimaginings of Dodgson's concepts (such as looking-glass travel) and characters (the cat is an assassin with nine lives), but his transformation of Wonderland's lunacy into a workable world sometimes leads to stilted exposition on history, geography, and government. Even so, his attention has, happily, put Wonderland back on the map again. Krista Hutley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Specs:

Reading level: Young Adult

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Dial; First Edition edition (September 26, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0803731531
ISBN-13: 978-0803731530

Antsy Does Time by Neal Shusterman

From School Library Journal
Starred Review. Grade 7–10—In this sequel to The Schwa Was Here (Dutton, 2004), Brooklynite Antsy Bonano, 14, finds another peculiar friend, a Swedish import named Gunnar Ümlaut. When a balloon from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade gets away, Antsy and his friends Howie and Ira head into Manhattan to follow the debacle. On the way, they run into their classmate Gunnar. Watching the catastrophe unfold, he confides to Antsy that he's been "coming to disasters" lately, and that he's dying of Pulmonary Monoxic Systemia. Gunnar says he has only six months to live, so Antsy gives him one of his own, drawing up a legal-looking document, and, before he knows it, the whole school's giving Gunnar months of their lives. Spending more time at Gunnar's house, Antsy falls for his friend's older sister, and also notices that things seem off. Gunnar's obsession with his presumed imminent death is largely ignored. When Antsy discovers that Gunnar is not going to die, that he was "diagnosed" by a fake online doctor, he wonders why the boy lied. As Antsy uncovers the truth—that Gunnar's dad has gambled away the family's money and they're headed back to Sweden—he learns more about the meaning of the time you have on Earth. This novel is as cleverly plotted and well paced as The Schwa; it is brimming with amusing secondary characters and situations that add depth and interest. Fans won't be disappointed, and newcomers won't have any problem jumping right in.—Jennifer Barnes, Homewood Library, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* The wisecracking teenage Brooklynite introduced in Shusterman’s award-winning The Schwa Was Here (2004) takes a second ride on the emotional roller coaster in this equally screwball sequel. When classmate Gunnar Ümlaut announces that he is going to die in six months from a rare disease, Antsy Bonnano prints up a formal contract that signs over a month of his own life to his gloomy buddy. This impulsive gesture of comfort unexpectedly nets Antsy a series of dates with Gunnar’s hot older sister Kjersten—but also takes on a life of its own when everyone who finds out about the good deed wants to get into the act. Meanwhile, Antsy and his closest friend (and ex-girlfriend), blind Lexie, plot to kidnap Lexie’s irascible grandpa “Creepy” Crawley (again), and Antsy’s father works his way toward heart-attack country struggling to get the Bonnano family’s new restaurant on its feet. Featuring a terrific supporting cast led by Antsy’s wise, acerbic mother, an expert blend of comedy and near tragedy, and the wry observations of a narrator whose glib tongue and big heart are as apt to get him into trouble as out of it, this will keep tween readers hooked from start to finish. Grades 6-9. --John Peters

Book Specs:
Reading level: Young Adult

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (September 18, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0525478256
ISBN-13: 978-0525478256

The Snow Pony by Alison Lester

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-8-The high plains of Australia have been hit by a severe drought that has brought difficult times to the cattle farmers. Dusty Riley, 14, has always been her father's "right-hand man," but as the situation grows worse her dad begins to withdraw from his family, causing everyone more stress. Her only consolation is her love for her horse, the Snow Pony. The mare was a brumby, and now allows only Dusty to ride and take care of her. When the teen, her younger brother, and her father set out to bring the cattle down from the high country for the winter, they encounter illegal hunters who threaten their lives. Before the roundup is over, a serious snowstorm impedes their progress and Dusty and her pony prove their courage as they go for help. This fast-paced "horse and girl" adventure story has interesting, well-developed characters, and the tension among the family members is well drawn. The dangerous situations are well integrated into the plot, and the upbeat ending is plausible and satisfying.
Carol Schene, Taunton Public Schools, MA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 6-12. Lester introduces readers to a willful Australian girl in this gripping adventure novel. Fourteen-year-old Dusty Riley (her cattle-farming father's "right-hand man") has "horses in her blood." But when she first spies the gray-and-white brumby she calls the Snow Pony, she knows she's a one-horse girl from that day on. The mare distracts her from the woes of her family, which was once tightly knit but is now fraying under the economic strain brought upon the farm by a three-year drought. Dusty has to grow up fast to deal with her once proud, increasingly troubled father, who relies upon her to win competitions for prize money. Despite her sense of alienation at school, and a spate of near disasters, Dusty shows her fortitude. Horse lovers will certainly revel in Lester's vivid descriptions of cattle farming, peppered with Aussie slang, but this outreaches the average horse story. Tethered to powerful themes of family, faith, and self-reliance, this also captures the beauty and unpredictability of wildness and a family's connection with the land. Karin Snelson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Specs:
Reading level: Ages 9-12

Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books; 1 edition (April 28, 2003)
ISBN-10: 0618254048
ASIN: B001NXDTE2

Danger Zone by David Klass

From School Library Journal
Grade 7-10-Basketball, racism, and international terrorism are all ingredients in Klass's latest offering. Jimmy Doyle, high school junior and standout guard from Minnesota, is one of 10 players selected to represent the USA in an international tournament to be held in Rome. Upon arriving in Los Angeles for team practices, he's thrown together with ethnic and culturally diverse teammates who quickly open his eyes to a much wider world. He immediately clashes with team star and South-Central L.A. native Augustus LeMay, who feels Jimmy is on the team only because he is white. As the tournament in Rome unfolds, the American team is subjected to verbal abuse by a group of skinhead fans from Germany, which escalates into a physical confrontation, and later results in a death threat against the U.S. squad. The Americans still manage to make it to the championship game, which culminates in a last-second game-winning basket and also a gunshot. Told through Doyle's eyes, the narrative features memorable characters and thought-provoking situations. While the terrorist threat may seem a bit extreme, the racial tension throughout the book rings true, and readers seeking lots of hoop action will be thoroughly satisfied.?Tom S. Hurlburt, La Crosse Public Library, WI
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Gr. 7^-12. In Granham, a small town in Minnesota, Jimmy Doyle is a basketball legend, the one the fans count on to sink the three-pointers and save the game. So when promoters pick an American High School Dream Team for a tournament in Italy, Doyle is offered a starting spot. The problem then becomes persuading himself and the talented African American inner-city kids who make up most of the team that he deserves the opportunity. The pace never lags, and Klass does a convincing job of capturing the feel of the game and depicting Doyle's attempts to be accepted by his teammates, as well as showing what happens when some terrorists add fear to the list of the team's opponents. Candace Smith --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Specs:
Reading level: Ages 9-12

Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (March 1, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0590485911
ISBN-13: 978-0590485913

Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac

From School Library Journal
Grade 5 Up–In the measured tones of a Native American storyteller, Bruchac assumes the persona of a Navajo grandfather telling his grandchildren about his World War II experiences. Protagonist Ned Begay starts with his early schooling at an Anglo boarding school, where the Navajo language is forbidden, and continues through his Marine career as a "code talker," explaining his long silence until "de-classified" in 1969. Begay's lifelong journey honors the Navajos and other Native Americans in the military, and fosters respect for their culture. Bruchac's gentle prose presents a clear historical picture of young men in wartime, island hopping across the Pacific, waging war in the hells of Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and Iwo Jima. Nonsensational and accurate, Bruchac's tale is quietly inspiring, even for those who have seen Windtalkers, or who have read such nonfiction works as Nathan Aaseng's Navajo Code Talkers (Walker, 1992), Kenji Kawano's Warriors: Navajo Code Talkers (Northland, 1990), or Deanne Durrett's Unsung Heroes of World War II: The Story of the Navajo Code Talkers (Facts On File, 1998). For those who've read none of the above, this is an eye-opener.–Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Gr. 6-9. Six-year-old Ned Begay leaves his Navajo home for boarding school, where he learns the English language and American ways. At 16, he enlists in the U.S. Marines during World War II and is trained as a code talker, using his native language to radio battlefield information and commands in a code that was kept secret until 1969. Rooted in his Navajo consciousness and traditions even in dealing with fear, loneliness, and the horrors of the battlefield, Ned tells of his experiences in Hawaii, Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Guam, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. The book, addressed to Ned's grandchildren, ends with an author's note about the code talkers as well as lengthy acknowledgments and a bibliography. The narrative pulls no punches about war's brutality and never adopts an avuncular tone. Not every section of the book is riveting, but slowly the succession of scenes, impressions, and remarks build to create a solid, memorable portrayal of Ned Begay. Even when facing complex negative forces within his own country, he is able to reach into his traditional culture to find answers that work for him in a modern context. Readers who choose the book for the attraction of Navajo code talking and the heat of battle will come away with more than they ever expected to find. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Book Specs:

Reading level: Ages 4-8

Paperback: 231 pages
Publisher: Speak (July 6, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0142405965
ISBN-13: 978-0142405963

Sold by Patricia McCormack

From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up – As this heartbreaking story opens, 13-year-old Lakshmi lives an ordinary life in Nepal, going to school and thinking of the boy she is to marry. Then her gambling-addicted stepfather sells her into prostitution in India. Refusing to be with men, she is beaten and starved until she gives in. Written in free verse, the girls first-person narration is horrifying and difficult to read. In between, men come./They crush my bones with their weight./They split me open./Then they disappear. I hurt./I am torn and bleeding where the men have been. The spare, unadorned text matches the barrenness of Lakshmis new life. She is told that if she works off her familys debt, she can leave, but she soon discovers that this is virtually impossible. When a boy who runs errands for the girls and their clients begins to teach her to read, she feels a bit more alive, remembering what it feels like to be the number one girl in class again. When an American comes to the brothel to rescue girls, Lakshmi finally gets a sense of hope. An authors note confirms what readers fear: thousands of girls, like Lakshmi in this story, are sold into prostitution each year. Part of McCormicks research for this novel involved interviewing women in Nepal and India, and her depth of detail makes the characters believable and their misery palpable. This important book was written in their honor.–Alexa Sandmann, Kent State University, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
Lakshmi, 13, knows nothing about the world beyond her village shack in the Himalayas of Nepal, and when her family loses the little it has in a monsoon, she grabs a chance to work as a maid in the city so she can send money back home. What she doesn't know is that her stepfather has sold her into prostitution. She ends up in a brothel far across the border in the slums of Calcutta, locked up, beaten, starved, drugged, raped, "torn and bleeding," until she submits. In beautiful clear prose and free verse that remains true to the child's viewpoint, first-person, present-tense vignettes fill in Lakshmi's story. The brutality and cruelty are ever present ("I have been beaten here, / locked away, / violated a hundred times / and a hundred times more"), but not sensationalized. An unexpected act of kindness is heartbreaking ("I do not know a word / big enough to hold my sadness"). One haunting chapter brings home the truth of "Two Worlds": the workers love watching The Bold and the Beautifulon TV though in the real world, the world they know, a desperate prostitute may be approached to sell her own child. An unforgettable account of sexual slavery as it exists now. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Book Specs:

Reading level: Young Adult

Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (April 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0786851724
ISBN-13: 978-0786851720

Mississippi Trial 1955 by Chris Crowe

From Publishers Weekly
Basing his promising debut novel on historical events, Crowe adopts the point of view of a white teenager confronting racism in the 1950s South. Hiram Hillburn has resented his civil-rights-minded father ever since the age of nine, when his parents moved him from his adored grandfather's home in Greenwood, Miss., to the more liberal climate of an Arizona college town. Now that he is 16, Hiram has finally been permitted to visit Grampa Hillburn again. Crowe takes a bit too much time before arriving at the central action: the lynching of Emmett Till, a black teenager from Chicago who reputedly made "ugly remarks" to a white woman, and the nationally publicized trial, in which the murderers were acquitted. However, the author takes a nuanced approach to ethical dilemmas and his plotting seems lifelike. Events force Hiram to question his willingness to stand up for his beliefs and to reevaluate his understanding of the animosity between his grandfather and father. The characterizations are sketched with care, from the white lawyers who mock the black witnesses they cross-examine, to R.C., the bully whom Hiram suspects of participating in the crime, to R.C.'s sister, whom Hiram likes. If the conclusion feels a little hasty, Crowe's otherwise measured treatment will get readers thinking. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-8-While visiting relatives in Mississippi, Emmett Till, 14, spoke "ugly" to a white woman and was subsequently tortured and murdered. Two men were arrested and tried for this heinous crime, but in spite of substantial evidence, were found not guilty. Crowe has woven the plot of his novel around these historical events. Hiram, the fictional main character, had lived with his grandparents in Mississippi as a child. Now 16, he returns to visit his aging grandfather, where he meets Emmett Till. He also renews a childhood acquaintance with R.C. Rydell, a redneck bully. When Emmett's mutilated body is found, Hiram immediately suspects that R.C. was involved. In a predictable twist at the end, he learns that it was his grandfather, not R.C., who helped the murderers. The Deep South setting is well realized. Descriptions of the climate, food, and landscape are vivid and on target. Likewise, Southern racial attitudes from the period are accurately portrayed. Grampa is a racist but Hiram enables readers to see his good qualities as well. Hiram himself seems rather naive. He is unable to fathom the racial prejudice at the root of his father's alienation from his grandfather. Nor does he feel the aura of racial fear and hatred that hangs over the entire region. The novel succeeds in telling Emmett Till's story, but there is an emotional distance that keeps readers from caring as deeply as they should about this crime. Still, it is a story that needs to be told. This book belongs in all collections to show young readers the full range of American history.
Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Book Specs:
Reading level: Young Adult

Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Speak (November 24, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0142501921
ISBN-13: 978-0142501924

Breath by Donna Jo Napoli

Grade 8 Up-Legend has it that in 1284 the city of Hameln (or Hamelin) suffered a plague of rats of which they tried to rid themselves by hiring a piper to lead the vermin away. When the residents reneged on their payment to him, he led their children away, as well. This tale has proved fertile ground for a lot of literature, from the 19th-century poem by Robert Browning to a 20th-century novel by Gloria Skurzynski. Now Napoli adds Breath-and breadth-to the canon. She includes the potent elements of ergot poisoning and suspected witchcraft in her plot, which is narrated by 12-year-old Salz-a boy whose frequent, serious illnesses render him almost useless on his family's farm. (An afterword explains that he has cystic fibrosis.) The author vividly describes the frightening conditions facing the townspeople and their increasingly desperate attempts to understand and overcome the torrential rains; the rat infestation; the diseases afflicting their livestock; and the physical, mental, and sexual maladies that beset them. Salz is an intelligent observer who is tried for witchcraft when he doesn't succumb to the same illnesses as the rest of the population. (He doesn't drink the beer made from the infected grain.) Readers unfamiliar with the psychotropic effects of ergot poisoning may be as mystified as these medieval citizens by the events presented here. Salz's illness is likely to be equally puzzling until it is explained in the postscript. The confusion and speculation this ignorance might produce are realistically portrayed, but it's possible that foreknowledge would provide a richer reading experience for teens.
Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Public Library, NY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
Gr. 8-12. It is the late thirteenth century, and Hameln town and its surroundings are overwhelmed by a terrible, incurable illness. Everywhere animals are sick and dying; humans may be next. What can be causing the scourge? Perhaps it's the result of the recent infestation of rats. No one knows for sure, but Salz hopes the piper he meets has the answers. Napoli has written a grotesquely powerful reimagining of the familiar German legend (and Robert Browning poem) about the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Seen through the eyes of a boy who himself suffers a mysterious illness, the medieval setting is a world of ignorance, superstition, and cruelty, which owes more to Pieter Bruegel the Elder (one of his paintings is used on the jacket) than to Browning. Relentlessly downbeat and dense with ghastly details and vivid depictions of the fear and despair visited on the illness' victims, this is definitely not for the faint of heart. History buffs, however, and Napoli fans will find it inarguably artful in its unsparing vision of a pre-Enlightenment Europe. Michael Cart
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Book Specs:

Reading level: Young Adult
Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse (June 21, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 068986177X
ISBN-13: 978-0689861772