| Booktalk
#1
Timid Princess Addie is content
to remain in the shadow of her adventurous older sister Meryl. While Addie
perfects her needlework, Meryl dreams of ridding the kingdom of dragons,
gryphons, specters and ogres that their weak father is powerless to control.
When Meryl contracts the Gray Death, a mysterious plague that killed their
mother, Addie must find the courage to seek a cure that will save her sister.
A young sorcerer and some magical gifts aid Addie in her quest, which includes
capture by a she-dragon who knows the cure. Can Addie use her wits and
new-found courage to obtain the cure in time to save her sister?
(Jean Bellavance bellavance@erols.com
for Pennsylvania
Young Reader's Choice Awards, 2003)
Booktalk #2
I'm no hero. My sister, Meryl,
a year older then me is the hero. I'm Addie, the taller, dark complexioned,
younger, cowardly sister. Meryl is the fair skinned, small compact bundle
of energy. The brave, older sister.
Meryl always looked after me.
Our mother had died from the Gray Death when we were two and three. Our
Father, the King, rarely visited. It was Meryl and I. We would play the
Gray Death adventure. I was never afraid of the Gray Death like I was of
a monster or spider that I could see and shiver over. I knew if I caught
it (the gray death), that it would be within me, and I knew my interior.
I was certain I could overcome any intruder there.
I was always the Gray Death's
victim, and I would act out the weakness of the disease and fall asleep
on the floor and then rise up in the last, fever-induced stage, rushing
to the fireplace to rub the ashes in to show the gray face that always
predicted the end. I'd keep one eye on Meryl and her battle with the monsters,
her adventures in the mountains and seas, and her sorcerer encounters.
When she triumphed and found the cure, I'd slump to the floor. She would
rush to me and rescue me in the knick of time.
It was supposed to be ME that
got the Gray Death, Not Meryl, ME! I'm no Hero!
Sam Marsh for The
Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award
Booktalk #3
I'm no hero. My sister, Meryl,
a year older then me is the hero. I'm Addie, the taller, dark complexioned,
younger, cowardly sister. Meryl is the fair skinned, small compact bundle
of energy. The brave, older sister.
Meryl always looked after me.
Our mother had died from the Gray Death when we were two and three. Our
Father, the King, rarely visited. It was Meryl and I. We would play the
Gray Death adventure. I was never afraid of the Gray Death like I was of
a monster or spider that I could see and shiver over. I knew if I caught
it (the gray death), that it would be within me, and I knew my interior.
I was certain I could overcome any intruder there.
I was always the Gray Death's
victim, and I would act out the weakness of the disease and fall asleep
on the floor and then rise up in the last, fever-induced stage, rushing
to the fireplace to rub the ashes in to show the gray face that always
predicted the end. I'd keep one eye on Meryl and her battle with the monsters,
her adventures in the mountains and seas, and her sorcerer encounters.
When she triumphed and found the cure, I'd slump to the floor. She would
rush to me and rescue me in the knick of time.
Meryl really did intend to
search for the cure as soon as she was old enough and strong enough.
When I was twelve, Trina, my
chambermaid, contracted the Gray Death. Soon, she was taken to her family
where, despite my suggestions to help her defeat the Death, she died.
Rhys was our sorcerer. They
were born when lightning strikes marble. That is to say, rarely. The sorcerer--man
or woman---would emerge full grown, still glowing. He/she would look about
him/her and then inward to learn what he/she was. Then he/she would rocket
into the stormy sky and a spark of the flame would burn on his/her chest,
sustaining him/her until death...some five hundred years hence.
Incapable of sleep, sorcerers
need only air to live, but may eat and drink for pleasure. They never get
ill, but may die from accident or violence just as anyone else. During
their first two hundred years, they are apprentices and live in the world.
After that, they retire to their citadel and rarely leave it.
Rhys became our friend, and
when I was sixteen, he gave Meryl and I and Bella, our governess, presents.
We resolved to return the favor. I gave him an embroidered pillow, for
embroidery is one of my most precious talents. Bella gave him one of her
doilies. Meryl decided she would declaim (recite) Drualt's battle with
the dragon Yune. Meryl was a formidable declaimer, and was much in demand
for her skills.
It was her best declaimer ever...until
the end, when Meryl began to curtsy and lost her balance. She didn't finish
the epilogue, and I knew something was wrong. It must be a cold I thought,
and made her go rest,
When she was gone, Rhys told
me. "It began today. She didn't have it yesterday. It happens that way.
Princess Meryl...has the Gray Death."
Sam Marsh for The
Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award |
