When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. The perfect anchor leg for a well-run literary relayĬhainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.Įvery four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. New and returning characters help to create tension and smooth transitions, but Lu pulls ahead as the catalyst for much of the relational shifts between adults and kids, showcasing children’s power to effect true communal change. It’s trash juice pumping through your things”) emphasizes the triumph of healing and unity in the book’s surprising ending.
The circularity of his similes in describing the generations of teasing endured by Lu’s father, who stuttered as a child (“You sound like a choking Chihuahua”), by Lu, bullied due to his albinism (“Yo, you look like a cotton ball dipped in white paint”), and even by a bully Lu takes down (“Yo, Kelvin, you smell like your blood ain’t blood. Reynolds’ seamless integration of Lu’s story into his series shows him to be a master of temporal structure, highlighting individual and collective growth of his four protagonists over one season. An unexpected pregnancy announcement from his parents and the challenge of waltzing to a win in his new event, hurdles, among other things, keep Lu’s emotions, and feet, racing.
In this final addition to Reynolds’ Track series, the titular, self-described “ fine-o albino” is nervous, maybe a little scared, about the many changes occurring during the week leading to the championships for the Defenders. A middle-grade runner soars over obstacles to shine as a leader for his team and family.
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