During the summer of 1687, Katherine “Kit” Tyler, granddaughter of the now deceased Sir Francis Tyler of Barbados, finds herself buried under the debt her grandfather owed. In order to pay off the creditors, Kit is forced to sale everything that was home or loved by her. From her grandfather’s plantation, the home, even her very own slave girl. With naught but her wardrobe left, Kit sets out to find her only relative still living. Her aunt who has long since married Mathew Wood, a puritan, and made her home in the American colonies.

The lengthy and dreary voyage by ship on the Dolphin is but one of many trials that Kit must face on her journey of self-discovery and foray into adulthood. Before Kit has even step foot in the town that she plans to make her new home; Kit finds herself at odds with the locals and their way of life. As the granddaughter of a wealthy King’s man in Barbados, Kit was well-educated, given plenty of freedom, and taught to voice her opinions because they were of value. On the Dolphin Kit begins noticing that she is not only different from the folks who will soon be her townsfolk, but she’s not entirely welcome either. She’s not a Puritan, she hails from an “island of savages” where she was allowed to “run wild” and never put forth an honest day’s work. She’s a loyalist during a time where the vast majority of the country folk put more stock in the land they work with their bare hands then in a man who sits upon a throne across the ocean.

As mentioned previously, the story opens in 1687, a scant few years before the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692. While witch trials were not nearly as prolific in the colonies as they were in Europe, accusations of witchcraft were still taken seriously. It is during this volatile time period that Kit, an exotic and foreign creature settles amongst their midst. Kit is so utterly different from the people whom she wishes to settle down with that it’s almost painful to watch. At the same time however, the reader can’t help but to be proud of Kit and the progress she makes in establishing bonds with her family, community, and friends.

Speare’s The Witch of Blackbird Pond is an, almost unbearably, short but wonderfully executed tale that allows readers to take a step back in time to a world long past but not forgotten. While the book is undeniably written with a young adult audience in mind, readers of all ages will nevertheless find enjoyment and adventure in this tale. The light touch of romance is enough to add spice to the story without detracting from the overall development of characters. Kit is a lovable, bratty, and very real protagonist that will force her way into your heart. The secondary and minor characters are well thought out, although a few do remain rather flat and two-dimensional. This caused me to have a very hard picturing these characters in my mind and took a bit of the enjoyment out of certain scenes since it was difficult to feel much more than mild amusement at their follies or mild indignation for their trespasses. This was a bit of a disappointment considering the fact that some of those flat characters play pivotal roles in moving major events along.

Overall though, I found The Witch of Blackbird Pond to be a highly enjoyable and engaging read that I strongly recommend to anyone looking to pick up a well written and quick-paced read. Especially if you’re a fan of historical fiction or young adult reads.

Joana’s Rating: (4 out of 5 stars)

Leonardo’s Shadow is told from the point of view of Giacomo a servant of the great Leonardo da Vinci. To say that Giacomo came to be Leonardo’s servant under rather unique circumstances would be an understatement. The story opens up with how Giacomo came to be with Leonardo. Giacomo, a young boy now fourteen or fifteen, was suffering from the fever and carrying in his possesion a cloth bag containing a medallion, a ring, and a cross, all of which no doubt are of great value. And herein lay Giacomo’s problem, due to the fever he could not remember how or why they came into his possession, only that he could let go of them.

Dressed as he was and carrying the objects that he did it was inevitable that he would be accused of thievery, and he was. Giacomo was chased through the streets of Milan until at last he came to make a last stand at the top of the cathedral, the very same one where Leonardo da Vinci was working on his painting. For reasons unknown to Giacomo, Leonardo chased off Giacomo’s pursuers and took him into his care, eventually making him his servant upon Giacomo’s recovery.

With such an exciting introduction I was feeling pumped and enthusiastically awaiting the start of the story, however I soon found myself a bit disappointed. Where as the introduction was exhilarating to say the least, the story itself was slow, there just isn’t anyway around that fact. The reader doesn’t get an idea as to the real significance of the items that Giacomo was carrying until chapter four, but the pace itself doesn’t really begin to pick up until near the end of chapter eleven. I feel that at this point most readers might have passed up on the story in favor of something that would draw them in a bit faster.

If the reader does stick it out past the slow beginning I believe they will be richly rewarded however. Normally I don’t mind giving out a few tidbits of the story to elaborate my points but for this particular tale I am loathe to do so. It has been my experiance that fictional tales which feature a well-known historical figure tend to either fall far from the mark or become so absurd as to make the reader wonder what the editor and publishers were thinking when they allowed the tale to be printed. It’s rare that I find one that is not only exceptionally plausible, well thought out, and situationally accurate, but also intriguing and captivating as well.

Over all, despite the initial lag, I found Leonardo’s Shadow to be an engaging read. There was plenty of mystery to keep the reader playing guessing games and the unlikely protagonists of Leonardo and Giacomo gave this tale a unique flavor that will have the reader salivating at the mouth. Indeed the tale takes a rather unexpected twist, I would elaborate right here on some of the surprising and shocking (though considering what I remember from my history courses and many accomplishments of Leonardo da Vinci I guess it shouldn’t be) events but I honestly can’t think of how to do so without giving the entire thing away.

My one and only true complaint is Giacomo’s initially endearing, and later annoying, habit of speaking before thinking. There are times where this flaw has been his saving grace and a positive trait, but there were also numerous times I couldn’t help but to groan at the stupidity of the character and marvel at how many benevolent saints must have been watching out for this boy! There were plenty of instances where he could have handled things so much better if not for this habit of opening his mouth and inserting his foot. Although I suppose he wouldn’t have been Giacomo if not for this trait. I did marvel though at how at the end of this tale, despite everything that happens Giacomo still has a severe tendency to open his mouth without thinking it through.

Now despite this book being listed as a children’s book on Amazon.com I believe it is more along the lines of a Young Adult novel. There is a reasonable amount of violence in this story that most parents won’t feel comfortable reading to their children ten or under, which is typically the set of the Children’s Literature genre. I would propose it safe for preteens and up. Due to the implied possible relationship between Leonardo and Giacomo by Leonardo’s father in chapter twenty I believe this tale will best be appreciated by a more mature reader. I just can’t, or rather don’t want to see, a six year old asking their mommy to explain what the father meant. Talk about uncomfortable!

This might sound seemingly random, but I have to add this. When you purchase this book do yourself a favor and purchase the hardback version. Why? If you remove the jacket you are greeted with Leonardo’s Last Supper on the cover of the book itself. It looks beautiful and I was thrilled to see the book manufactured like this. To me it adds to the atmosphere to hold the completed creation while reading about it while it was in-progress.

Joana’s rating:

When the book was made into a movie I was very seriously tempted to go and see it yet something held me back. Despite the rave reviews of the book and movie not to mention holding high rankings for weeks something about the movie and book said wait, give it time. This past weekend I finally read Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha and I find myself sitting here with a very funny taste in my mouth that I just can’t quite place. In an attempt to put a name to this peculiar taste we’re going to go over this book piece by piece.

Memoirs is told from the point of view of a young Japanese girl named Sakamoto Chiyo who was born in the small fishing village of Yoroido and was later sold to an okiya (Geisha house) while her sister Satsu was sold to a pleasure house. Chiyo is trained to become a geisha during the early years of World War ll. She is fortunate enough to be mentored by the most popular geisha of the time, Mameha. After she succeeds in becoming a geisha herself she becomes known as Sayuri and eventually becomes the next most popular and sought after geisha. During the final years of the war the geisha districts of Gion are shut down and Sayuri, with the help of a long devoted admirer, finds refuge in a former kimono maker’s household until the war comes to it’s end and Gion is opened back up.

As someone who has a great interest in and a deep love of Japanese culture I was truly interested in reading this book since it was supposed to have been told from the point of view of a geisha, who have their own code of silence. First off, contrary to popular public opinion Sayuri is not a real geisha, and if there was a geisha by that name it is not the Sayuri of this tale. I have heard several people call Memoirs a biography and a memoir and I was even rather shocked to find it shelved at Barnes and Noble as such. News flash, it’s not. Memoirs is the historical fiction written by Arthur Golden who took the information he gathered from a geisha named Iwasaki Mineko. In Golden’s own credits he states this:

Memoirs of a Geisha is a novel and the character of Sayuri and her story are my own inventions. (p433)

Of course that little bit about Sayuri and her tale being his own invention is a bit of a stretch according to the geisha that Golden interviewed and who he was not supposed to mention. Iwasaki contests that the majority of the events that occur in Sayuri’s life are based upon or directly lifted from events in her own life. In an attempt to rectify the negative portrayal of herself and the geisha lifestyle Iwasaki released her own book entitled Geisha of Gion.

That aside, I did find myself easily captivated by Golden’s flowing style and the story itself never once faltered but kept itself moving at a steady pace that forced the reader to stay up late into the night just to see what would happen next. And yet the cultural inaccuracies were glaring to someone with a familiarity with Japanese culture and I found myself hard pressed to sympathize with Sayuri towards the later half of the book. The girl never truly wanted to leave her family behind and she certainly didn’t want to become a geisha at first either. She was confused and was being tormented by the head geisha of her okiya, Hatsumomo, who saw the potential in Sayuri and sought to drive her away in order to secure her own position.

And yet the strength of her character and the sweet naiveté that drew you in initially becomes a repellent that serves to confuse and push the reader away. Allow me to explain, Sayuri spends a good amount of time unaware of where exactly she is at and how she came to be there and naively thinks of running away with her sister. The cruel tyranny of Hatsumomo is incomprehensible to her and time after time she foolishly walks into Hatsumomo’s traps one after the other because she can’t see a way out of them when there were always at least two different ways to have better handled the situation. Even when she becomes Mameha’s apprentice and later a geisha in her own right she retains that naivety. But naivety and innocence are only appealing to a certain point, once you pass that point it becomes apparent that you are dealing with someone who is immature and refuses to learn from their mistakes. That is Sayuri’s character in a nutshell.

Few geisha have the chance to be truly cared for and loved by someone who appreciates them for themselves and not the perfect doll-like persona they put on. Sayuri has this and time after time passes it by and each time it’s for a man, the same one in fact, whom she met once when she was younger and for whom she has developed a childish infatuation. This infatuation becomes the driving force behind all of her actions. It is what goads her into taking the geisha life seriously and it is what drives her to hurt those who care for her. Initially the reader spends their time hoping to see Sayuri end up with her “prince charming” but when the true hero of the story is revealed, well then the reader spends most of their time fervently praying that Sayuri gets a little common sense knocked into her.

On one hand you have prince charming, Chairman Iwamura, who didn’t recognize who she was when they later met again and who was more taken with Mameha and other geisha than with her. Then there is Nobu, a badly scarred and deformed man with an ill temper but who is quickly captivated by Sayuri’s personality and beauty. Contrary to his normal nature, Nobu spends a good deal of time showering her with gifts and attempting to curb his sharp tongue in order to gain her attentions. When Gion is closed down and the geisha are forced to seek employment elsewhere it is Nobu, who at the time she had passed over and not spoken to in four years, who comes to her with a place to stay.

Those who want to see the “princess” end up with her “prince charming” will be happy to know that Sayuri does eventually end up with Chairman Iwamura. It comes at a great price and at the end of a treacherous path. In the end one can’t help but to shake their heads at the result. You reap what you sow is the closest phrase I can think of to sum up the end results. What is probably the saddest thing is that as Sayuri recounts her tale and sounds displeased with it she still has no idea what went wrong.

A character that flounders about and fizzles out, a disappointing ending and a plethora of cultural errors make up the sum of this book. Golden’s patronizing view of the geisha lifestyle is readily apparent despite passages where “Sayuri” states that geisha are not whores and that the two are wolds apart. The author’s tone and views color the actions and thoughts of the characters to a point where one has to attempt to ignore them in order to keep them from spoiling the tale.

Iwasaki sued Golden for defamation of character and after reading this book and seeing the rather negative portrayal of geisha I’d have to say she was certainly right in doing so.

Joana’s rating:

Scott O’Dell is well known for his contributions to the historical fiction genre. Though the books are written for a younger audience, readers of all ages will be moved by images and emotions that his writing provokes. Sing Down the Moon is no exception to this rule.

Sing Down the Moon follows the story of Bright Morning a young Navajo girl living in the Canyon de Chelly in Arizona during the mid 1860’s. During these times Native Americans faced many trials and tribulations from all fronts. From the Spanish slavers who captured any and all Indian girls they could find to sell into slavery, to the United States soldiers who were bound and determined to strip them of their land. Scott O’Dell does a marvelous job of capturing the feel of the era and drawing the readers into the story. The story is told from a first person narrative which only helps to draw the reader in deeper and gives the reader a sense of truly being there.

Scott O’Dell also took clear advantage of the abilities of a first person narrative by delving deeper into the culture of the Navajo. An example of this is the detail and attention that O’Dell, through Bright Morning, is able to pay to the coming of age ceremony known as a Kin-nadl-dah. Although I had, had this ceremony explained to me before I did not quite grasp all of the purposes and history behind each part of it. Reading and experiencing the Kin-nadl-dah through Bright Morning’s perspective allowed me to fully grasp the significance of the ceremony and to appreciate it better. This is something that woud have been much harder to do had the story not been told in the first person perspective.

Besides getting a feel for how the time and the way of life was for Bright Morning and her people, Scott O’Dell does a remarkable job of passing on a bit of history while at the same time bringing the characters to life. In most books and textbooks Native Americans, particularly the Navajo and Apache, are dehumanized and villianized. O’Dell’s style of writing, depiction of realistic events, and portrayal of characters and culture do a remarkable job weave a truthful tale that both moves and captivates the reader. As you see Bright Morning and her people forced to endure The Long Walk you will be hard pressed not to feel their pain and suffering and righteous anger at the atrocities dealt to these people.

History exists so that we may learn from it and the goal is not to repeat it. Scott O’Dell’s Sing Down the Moon is an excellent piece to read and learn from. A true gem to the Historical Fiction genre.

Joana’s review: