JANUARY 2021 - AudioFile
Vanessa Johansson narrates this middle-grade fantasy influenced by Greek mythology. Clo’s father sends her on a journey halfway across the ocean to a dreary, gray place where she cannot understand what anyone is saying. After befriending the only other person her age, she discovers that both of their stories are woven into the tapestry of life. Johansson’s talent is apparent, especially in the voices she provides for the characters. By bringing to life the inhabitants of the island, her performance continually keeps one engaged. Sadly, each of the chapters begins with a snippet of music that does not fit the story. The tune continually jars the listener, marring an otherwise lovely production. A.L.S.M. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 07/27/2020
Drawing from Greek mythology, Andrews constructs a leisurely, lyrical debut exploring the nature of destiny and sacrifice. After her father, an art restorer and sometimes thief, is detained, young Clothilde, “wall-jumper, turnip-grower, corner-skulker,” takes his last gifts to her—his precious leather notebook, a stolen painting, a wheel of foul-smelling cheese—and follows his instructions. She arrives first at a mysterious ship on which he has booked her “half passage,” and then to an isolated gray island where an old woman, who addresses Clo as “rethguaddnarg,” takes her in. Fearful about her father’s fate, Clo refuses to settle in on the inscrutable island, with its perpetually gray sky and its inhabitants’ obsession with small silvery fish. Soon Clo learns that she’s expected to spin these fish into threads, which in turn become part of a magical tapestry that leads her to understand her family’s star-crossed history en route to rewriting her own destiny. Her only ally on the island is Cary, a boy her own age who came to the island after his own tragic experience. Though the narrative voice can occasionally seem distant, the timelessness it grants makes this enchanting story feel like an all-new myth built from classic material. Ages 8–12. Agent: Sara Crowe, Pippin Properties. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
* "An epic tale of abandonment, travel, secrets, family, and the meaning of art.... Exquisite in detail.... A tapestry, both humble and rich."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* "A lyrical debut exploring the nature of destiny and sacrifice.... The narrative voice...makes this enchanting story feel like an all-new myth built from classic material."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Expertly written, full of beautiful imagery and elements of Greek mythology.... An engaging and inventive novel."—School Library Journal
* "Readers familiar with Greek myth will take special pleasure in the slantwise view Andrews conjures.... The tapestry metaphor also offers a longer, measured view of the unavoidability of pain and the beauty of kindness as well as commentary on the persistence of powerful stories through art."—BCCB, starred review
* "Bewitching, beautiful, and bewildering.... Immensely satisfying."—Booklist, starred review
"Both mysterious and evocative.... A dreamy, immersive story that raises questions aboutthe power of art and the value of humansuffering."—The Horn Book
School Library Journal
08/01/2020
Gr 5 Up—For as long as Clothilde could remember, she has lived her life in the shadows. Traveling from town to town with her father, Clo never gets close to the townsfolk, preferring either her own company or that of her father's. One day, her father does not return home from work and Clo is left to follow the mysterious clues he sends in order to find him. With a ticket for a "half-passage," Clo embarks on a journey to find her father and ends up on a strange island where it is always gray and the villagers speak a language she doesn't understand. On the island, Clo meets an apple-faced woman with an unexpected connection to Clo, a boy who fell from the sky, and a piggish cat that loves creating mischief. Unbeknownst to Clo, each character will play a role in the search for her father—a search that ultimately will give her a deeper understanding of the world. Clo's tale is expertly written, full of beautiful imagery and elements of Greek mythology. Clo's dynamic character growth is one to be applauded. She is thrust into a journey of self-discovery, learning not only about herself, but also her parents: the father she thought she knew and the mother she never met. Over time, Clo's enlightening adventure teaches her to find beauty in tragedy, to help those in need, and to accept what cannot be changed while having the courage to change what she can. These timeless lessons alone make this title worth the read. VERDICT Drawing on elements of Greek mythology, this is an engaging and inventive novel that middle grade readers will enjoy.—Myiesha Speight, Towson Univ., Baltimore
JANUARY 2021 - AudioFile
Vanessa Johansson narrates this middle-grade fantasy influenced by Greek mythology. Clo’s father sends her on a journey halfway across the ocean to a dreary, gray place where she cannot understand what anyone is saying. After befriending the only other person her age, she discovers that both of their stories are woven into the tapestry of life. Johansson’s talent is apparent, especially in the voices she provides for the characters. By bringing to life the inhabitants of the island, her performance continually keeps one engaged. Sadly, each of the chapters begins with a snippet of music that does not fit the story. The tune continually jars the listener, marring an otherwise lovely production. A.L.S.M. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2020-06-03
An epic tale of abandonment, travel, secrets, family, and the meaning of art.
Clo and her father, art restorer and small-time thief, never live for long in one village; when it’s time to move on, he signals her, she meets him at the forest’s edge, and they walk through the night to someplace new. One day, he doesn’t show. A swineherd delivers a half-legible note: Clo must take this paper ticket of “half passage” to someone named Haros, near “th’ water…full o’ salt.” So Clo, “wall-jumper, turnip-picker,” embarks on a lonely journey halfway across a raging sea to an island where people and skies are gray, time doesn’t pass, a dried-apple–faced old woman inexplicably knows her, and fish can be carded and spun into shimmering yarn. Exquisite in detail, Andrews’ stunning novel gives careful importance to objects; even a simple shawl holds revelations. Chapter titles sparkle and tantalize (“In Which Our Hero Dies”), and prose sings. Tropes of sacrifice and Greek mythology serve as scaffoldings. There must be a way for Clo to escape her repulsive fate of carding and spinning silver fishes’ guts into yarn and maybe even to help a vulnerable, always-damp, flute-playing boy who was scooped from the ocean—but that path must allow for the literal, physical, yarn-based weaving of “humid forests and gleaming deserts, rimy fields and green valleys”—and human lives. Characters seem white.
A tapestry, both humble and rich. (Fantasy. 10-14)
