(Ages 12 to 15) -Jennifer Hubert From School Library Journal: In creating this beautiful story, Napoli brings mythology alive for today's young adults. Sirena is the perfect teenage heroine-questioning authority and falling in love no matter what the consequences. I will wipe from my brain the sights I have seen and start over." Little does she know that due to a jealous goddess, a sea-serpent bite, and a dead hero, a man will come to her island and love her for herself, not just her song. She vows to live alone on "an island where the first rays of sun bring sight to blind eyes. But after witnessing a shipwreck in which the survivors kill one of her sisters, 17-year-old Sirena decides she would rather lose her chance at eternal life than trick a human into loving her. But did the Sirens (who Napoli imagines as mermaids) really mean for the sailors to perish? Or were these sultry singers cursed themselves? In Napoli's tale, because they are half-human, the 10 Sirens are doomed to lead short mortal lives-unless they can convince men to become their mates. Here, she retells the Greek myth of the Sirens, whose sweet, beckoning singing caused countless shipwrecks. Donna Jo Napoli thoughtfully and poetically reexamined the story of Hansel and Gretel from the witch's point of view in The Magic Circle.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |