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I was blown away by this story. I love that Rosoff had decided to set the events during an imagined war, one that feeds on confusion and seems to be a historical pastiche of conflicts during the last century. Rosoff is a master storyteller, an impeccable writer, and dammit, she made me weep (I won't tell you at which part but if you fnd me in the store, ask me and I will say as much as I can before excusing myself, hardly contained, for the washroom). But seriously, a novel like this proves the resonance of literature and its importance for the human heart.
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"'If I was going to kill the Prophet,' I say, not even keeping my voice low, 'I'd do it in Africa'"
So begins the story of Kyra, a 13 year old girl living with her father and his three wives in a fundamentalist mormon compound in Utah. Kyra remembers when the current Prophet's father was their leader, when she could stil read Dr. Seuss, but that was before the book burnings. The current Prophet is a piece of work, forcing the young girls to intermarry into their immediate family, men 50+ their seniors. And then there are the disappearing babies.
Kyra is betrothed to her father's brother, the Prophet's right-hand man. Her only escape is to sneak away every week to visit the bookmobile that parks just outside the compound. She contemplates books, the ambiguity of freedom, the nature of evil, and about Joshua, the boy she truly loves. Pick it up.
Mandy
2 comments:
Mandy, I read How I Live Now when it first came out and found it really, really powerful. It's one of those books that I can still remember vividly, even after a few years. I look forward to reading The Chosen One.
It IS powerful and haunting. I have an interview with Meg Rosoff coming up, so check back at our blog in the next week or so for that. I hope you like The Chosen One. It too is very powerful.
--Mandy
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