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Amber & Clay by Laura Amy Schlitz (2021)

1/23/2023

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By Ella

Rhaskos. A Thracian slave, worth far less than the animals he cares for. Separated from his mother, forced to serve a master who curses him and beats him. He draws horses in the dirt, and dreams of freedom.

Melisto. She caused her mother no end of trouble as a baby. She has never stopped. The future looks as bleak to her as a stretch of flawless fabric: what everyone expects, and so easily ignored. Serving Artemis as a Little Bear might be the first and last chance, however temporary, for her to be herself.

Against the backdrop of ancient Greece, told in poetry and prose and in fragments of the past, this is the tale of a boy and a girl whose futures are dark to them—and who might, through the impossible friendship they form, at last find the peace they have both been searching for.

Amber & Clay is unique and utterly absorbing, blending historical fiction, magic, and archaeology into something almost improbably powerful and beautiful. I’ve read a handful of books which use both prose and poetry, and honestly none of them have pulled it off very well; there always feels as though there is an abrupt shift when transitioning from one to another. But Schlitz’s prose is so lyrical and deliberate that the story flowed seamlessly from one style to another, and brought the book together more fully and made it feel more concrete rather than splintering it into sections. Not only that, but this ranks among one of the most excellent historical novels I have read (it’s set in Greece, particularly the Athens area, around the fifth century BCE)—not just for how it feels as though it stays utterly true to the time period, but because the feelings and conflicts and dreams of Rhaskos and Melisto are so bright and evocative in my mind that they might be living next door, not twenty-six centuries ago.

To be honest, of all the books I’ve reviewed, Amber & Clay is one of the hardest to describe. Its scope feels enormous, and yet deeply personal; its struggles, concrete and yet ephemeral. So much happens, but it isn’t the tale of the vast shifts of war and politics occurring in the background. It isn’t even a grandiose interpretation of what it must’ve been like, growing up without any chance at having rights. Instead of seeking to change the world, Rhaskos and Melisto both simply seek to live with it: to live in a society which they see not as unjust and discriminatory as we do now, but simply as how the world is. This crucial and too-unique nuance lends the story a vibrant realism which it might otherwise lack, and helps every detail of the story, its characters, and its setting shine with power and truth. Amber & Clay is, quite simply, extraordinary—I highly recommend it to readers ages eleven and up.

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The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (2003)

6/14/2018

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By Piranha T.

In the kingdom of Kildenree, magic exists. Ordinary people can be born with words on their tongues with allow them to speak with animals or have a gift with people so that any word they speak sounds like the truth. And in the old tales it is rumored there is a third gift: the ability to speak with one of the elements. Yet most consider that only a story.

Princess Anidori of Kildenree was born with one such word on her tongue, but she has grown up without knowing what it is. Although she has all she could ever want, Anidori (Ani for short) has never felt comfortable with who she is—a princess. Her beloved aunt teaches her the tongues of the swans on the pond when she is young, but even that does not last; Ani’s mother, the queen of Kildenree, doesn’t approve of such things and her aunt leaves her before long.

Meanwhile, the Queen has a different fate in store for Ani. She has an arranged marriage with the prince of Bayern to prevent a war, someone she has never met. But before Ani reaches Bayern, she is betrayed; with everything taken from her, she tries to find a way to reclaim her crown and prevent a war that is brewing within the city’s walls.
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The Goose Girl was a fun, well-written fantasy. Ani was a well-developed character who developed further over the course of the book, and Shannon Hale’s supporting cast was amusing, entertaining and excellent. I’d recommend The Goose Girl to kids and adults ages ten and up.
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Blackjack: Dreaming of a Morgan Horse - by Ellen F. Feld

9/5/2014

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- by Piranah T., with assistance from Super Kitty

One day, Heather Richardson learns she has a new bus driver on the way to school. The bus driver, Chauncy, has a horse barn, and invites her over. She sees a horse she has dreamed about, and is overjoyed to find this dream-horse is a real horse. But then the horse is taken away in an auction, and Heather must work hard in the hopes of getting her back.

I liked this book because it was very exciting, and that excitement almost never went away.

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    Book Reviews By & For Kids

    Everyone knows that Rapunzel spent her early years locked up in a tower. We’d like to think she read plenty of books to while away the time, and that she’d appreciate our own favorites.

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