March 22, 2005
YA39: Trickster's Choice
Finished listening to this one in the car on the way home from work today and absolutely loved it. I was worried at the beginning because the chapters start with quotes from other sources to give a bit of history, advice, etc. and the first one was so dense to listen to (it would have been easier to read I think) that I thought the whole story would be like that. But as soon as I met the characters and got into the action I was completely hooked. Now I'm going to have to go track down the next one in the series as well...
Trickster's Choice (Daughter of the Lioness Book 1)
Tamora Pierce
New York : Random House, c2003. 422 pages
New York : Random House/Listening Library, p2003. 7 cassettes (11 hr., 54 min.)
excerpts
School Library Journal described it well: "With magic, spells, winged horses that are part human and part metal, crows that take human form (and provide a romance for Aly), brutal fighting, treason, and attempted kidnapping, this fantasy has plenty to hold readers' attention. It also offers an interesting examination of race, as well as a look at an adolescent's finding her independence, an especially difficult task with such a powerful mother. Aly is a strong, intelligent, and resilient feminist who stretches this fantasy to a parable of girl-power. The book at times bogs down in the sheer number of characters and relationships, and in the author's zealous attention to descriptive details, but Pierce's fans will enjoy it."
The Booklist review (by one of my hero-librarians, GraceAnne DeCandido) says: "A marvelous cast of characters, human, mage, and animal; a tangled web of political and racial tensions; and the promise of other Aly stories to come will engage Pierce's legions of fans and win over even more."
Grades 7-12
One of the teens' top ten for 2004