The Little White Horse

The Little White Horse
By Elizabeth Goudge
Penguin Group 1947, reprinted 2001

If you like your fiction with a darker edge, or if you prefer fantasy in the style of Tolkien or Rowling, then I would not recommend The Little White Horse. But if you are in the mood for a pleasant, beautifully told tale with a cheeky heroine and a happy ending, by all means seek out this volume.

Thirteen-year-old Maria, recently orphaned and accompanied by her nurse Miss Heliotrope and her dog Wiggins, arrives at the beautiful Merryweather Manor, where she endears herself to everyone she meets -- her cousin, the servants, the townsfolk, even the animals. But there is a curse upon the Manor, brought upon the castle by Maria's selfish ancestor. With a little help from her friends, both human and animal, she sets out to redeem her forefather and break the curse of the Moon Princess and the White Horse.

The Little White Horse brims with delightful description and a sense of magic that seems to always lurk just out of sight. At times it strays too close to becoming overly cute, but for the most part it is an enjoyable read. I found the ending a bit too predictable and saccharine, but I did enjoy the journey there. This book is probably best recommended to girls between the ages of ten and fourteen.

East

East
By Edith Pattou
Harcourt, Inc. 2003

East is based on the fairy tale "East of the Sun and West of the Moon," in which an enchanted white bear offers to change a poor man's luck in exchange for his youngest daughter. But even those unfamiliar with the tale will enjoy this fantastic adventure. The story is told exclusively from the first person point of view; however, the viewpoint changes from character to character throughout the story (luckily, the chapter headings indicate who is narrating each segment).

Rose is the youngest child of a poor farmer and a superstitious woman, born as a replacement for her dead sister. She is a wild, adventurous soul with a talent for weaving and a strange secret -- when she was a child, a white bear rescued her, and ever since she has caught glimpses of the beast every now and again. When the family falls on hard times, the white bear comes to the door and strikes a bargain -- if they give him Rose, the family's fortunes will change for the better. Against her family's will Rose departs with the bear, and as she comes to learn more about this strange creature she sets herself to finding a way to free him from his enchantment. Her quest takes her to distant lands, across oceans and ice fields, and into the heart of the troll kingdom, where the Troll Queen desires the white bear as a husband.

East is an excellent adaptation of a classic fairy tale. The characters are much more complex than their fairy-tale counterparts -- even the evil Troll Queen is given some redeeming qualities. The multiple-narrator approach could have been confusing if not done just right, but Pattou gives each character a distinct voice and style that makes following the story easier.

Introduction

If you don't know me, I'm Kenya Starflight, fan fiction author, moderator of the Me, Myself, and Vader blog, and all that.

In addition to being an avid writer, I am also a voracious reader. And now that I work at a library, I find I have access to a lot of great books. Thus, I've taken it upon myself to review some of my favorite books.

This blog will be dedicated to reviews of books I highly recommend. I won't bother reviewing books I didn't like.

Most of the books will be fantasy or science fiction, of course, but keep your eyes peeled for the occasi0nal general fiction, historical fiction, or even cookbook!

Stay tuned.