Lari Don
Kelpies
May 31, 2011 / ASIN: B0078XG4TI
Kindle Edition (ebook)
Children's eBook - Fantasy - Ages 8-12
Amazon
Reviewed
by Beth E. McKenzie
The storyline is familiar. You have a basically good girl, Helen,
with a little bit of rebellion in her. She only wants to play certain
types of music, doesn't want to follow her mother into veterinary
medicine, and knows how to get out of her second-story bedroom through
the window. When the opportunity for a little excitement appears,
she falls in with a gang of kids from the other side and starts
sneaking out of the house at night, stealing from her mother's surgery,
lying to her parents, interfacing with murders and thieves, and
handling weaponry. Her new friends aren't bad kids, but they have
made bad choices and have decided to try to fix this problem- the
loss of a cultural artifact- themselves.
Helen has learned a little bit about veterinary first aid and, armed
with her mother's exotic animal handbook, quickly becomes a valued
member of the gang after bandaging the centaur's wound when he is
bitten by the Master's ferret henchman, cleaning the rock chips
from the dragon's eyes, splinting the broken wing of the phoenix,
and resuscitating the drowned flower fairy. She proves her cleverness
to the gang by reattaching the enemy leader's ear and compromising
the route to his lair at the same time.
This is a wonderful fantasy story that will be enjoyed by both children
and adults, but it is no fairy tale. A fairy tale is supposed to
have an underlying message that helps build character. The lesson
here is "sneak around and keep your secrets, it will be ok."
I had no trouble believing that I was listening to teenagers talk,
and the transition between Helen's normal world and her conversion
to the land of myth and fable was spotlessly done. There was just
enough wonder, quarrel and disbelief to bring me right along with
her.
The only problem I had was, in the end, the kids suffered no consequences
for their actions. I have been trying to think of a fairy tale where
the hero wasn't driven to be involved with the adventure. Sleeping
Beauty was tricked, Snow White, Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel were
kidnapped, Helen was just curious and disobeyed her parents.
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