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Children's Book ReviewsPage One of FourChild X by Lee WeatherlyDavid Fickling Books, June, 2002Hardcover, 156 pages ISBN: 0385750099 Ages 8-12 Ordering information: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk 
It has happened to many people. Things are
proceeding in a predictable way and then
something happens that changes everything. For thirteen
year old Juliet Chency life
is all right, but far from what she would really like. Uncle
Derek has the same red hair
that Jules has and he is a well-known actor. Jules enjoys
talking to him. There are possibilities. She decides that
being in a play
adaptation of her favorite novel will bring some new experiences,
so she tries out;
to her surprise she is accepted in the role she had sought.
Mother is always away
at work, but Dad, who has a different kind of career, is
always there to cook, clean and
listen. Jules really loves her Dad. Then one day Dad is no
longer there, and Jules cannot
find him. Everything has changed.
The theme of people not being quite what one has perceived them to be runs through this riveting story. Jule honestly recounts her first hard lessons in the realities of human nature. To find that her beloved father is not really her biological father and that he is suing her mother for child support is shocking enough. To find that the world has a ravenous appetite for hearing all the details of other people's personal tragedies is indeed painful, especially when reporters and photographers are camped in the front yard. Jule finds that the newspaper reporter who sought her out and seemed to understand so completely had actually used her as the subject of a featured story in a national newspaper with wide circulation. To learn that one cannot necessarily depend on long standing friendships when things go terribly wrong is even more unsettling. On the positive side, Jule learns that a friendship that she had previously scorned is still offered and that those who have betrayed can be forgiven. First time novelist Lee Weatherly, who was born in Little Rock, Arkansas now lives with her husband in the UK. After trying many occupations, she has settled on writing. Her sensitive narrative about the issues and pain that many teens face is certain to be enjoyed by young readers. --Sarah Reaves White Goddess of Yesterday by Caroline B. CooneyDelacorte Press, June, 2002Hardcover, 263 pages ISBN: 0385729456 Ages 12 and up Ordering information: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk 
There is no better doorway into Bronze Age
Greece than this exciting novel for
young readers by Caroline B. Cooney. From the
first page when this spunky
girl, Anaxandra, is taken from her parents and
her home by pirates when she is
only six years old to the last page, when she is in no
man's land during the Trojan
War, the reader has to admire this girl who tells her
story in a matter of fact way
with neither self-pity or self-aggrandizement.
The reader is immediately plunged into a brutal age with viewpoints and attitudes that are totally foreign to the twenty-first century reader. Fear of offending the gods rules the lives of all citizens of this bronze age society, but it is perfectly all right to burn and pillage other islands and carry off citizens to be sold into a life of slavery. The gods are by no means united into a common religion; instead, two gods may be supporting opposing armies or kings. Through her very thorough research into The Iliad and other ancient writers, Ms. Cooney makes all of the characters come alive as we observe their personalities through their actions. Anaxandra begins her story on a small island in the Aegean Sea where she lives happily with her mother and her father, a chieftain of the island. One day when she is only six, ships filled with soldiers arrive. They demand a tribute and little Anaxandra as a hostage. The leader of the soldiers, King Nicander, decides that Anaxandra will make a good playmate for his crippled daughter, Callisto. Anaxandra is taken into the new family and she gains many useful skills as time passes. Then one day again pirates come to plunder and the entire island is soon in flames. Anaxandra escapes, but her new family is killed. It is when a new fleet of ships arrives that Anaxandra must take advantage of mistaken identity and claim to be Princess Callisto so that she can survive and not be sold into slavery. King Menelaus takes her home, saves the treasure taken for her dowry and treats her well. But Queen Helen is suspicious of a princess with red hair. Like all Greeks of this period, she knows not only her own ancestry, but is familiar with the ancestry of the late King Nicander. Helen is suspicious that Anaxandra is not Princess Callisto. One day two Trojan princes, Aeneas and Paris arrive. Paris and Helen are strongly attracted to each other, and when Menelaus leaves to attend a funeral, they plunder his kingdom and Helen sails away with Paris. Anaxandra must go with them to care for Helen's infant son. Anaxandra's adventures in Troy and her final meeting with Menelaus are exciting, and upon finishing the story the reader can really feel that a trip through time to Bronze Age Greece has occurred. In case the reader would care to review his or her knowledge of the Trojan War with all its famous personalities, both human and divine, Ms. Cooney has provided a very enlightening discussion of the various issues surrounding this fascinating novel. She points out where she has altered a few facts to fit the literary demands of the story. Her insights are both entertaining and informative. --Sarah Reaves White Children's Book Reviews Page One | Page Two | Page Three | Page Four Return to Book Reviews Index ** To visit the archives of children's books reviewed in The IWJ, please click here. |
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