 | Wide starlight Author: Lesperance, Nicole | |
| Price: $9.01 | ||
Summary:
Eli was six when her mother disappeared off a frozen fjord in Norway under the Northern Lights and now, at age sixteen, she returns, determined to discover what really happened.
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: MG+ Reading Level: 5.40 Points: 12.0 Quiz: 516223 |
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 12/01/2020 Gr 7 Up—Sixteen-year-old Eline Davis lives on Cape Cod with her American father. When she was little, they and her Norwegian mother, Silje, lived in Svalbard. When Eli was six, Silje took her to a glacier and whistled down the Northern Lights to take both of them away, but only her mother disappeared. Eli's felt broken ever since. Then Eli receives a mysterious letter written in Norwegian saying that Silje is close and to call her. The Northern Lights also appear over Cape Cod, so Eli tries whistling her mother back. Eli's afraid to believe it when Silje does return, not quite human. Eli starts seeing three mysterious girls in long cloaks with strange eyes skulking around. When meteorites begin falling and a pod of narwhals beach themselves on the cape, Eli realizes the longer her mother's there, the more things keep breaking down. Silje attempts to fix it and disappears again, leaving Eli a message that says, "Find me where I left you." Eli's search takes her and her father back to Svalbard to a grandmother Eli hated and the magical stories Silje used to tell Eli. This mesmerizing and sometimes heartbreaking fantasy reveals the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters while exploring mental illness, loss, regret, guilt, and forgiveness. All characters are white. VERDICT A haunting contemporary fantasy inspired by Norwegian fairy tales set on Cape Cod and on an island off Norway's coast. For fans of Emily X.R. Pan, Jaclyn Moriarty, Holly Black, Cornelia Funke, and Edith Pattou.—Sharon Rawlins, New Jersey State Lib., Trenton - Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
Booklist - 01/01/2021 Lesperance weaves the myth and magic of Norwegian folklore into a realistic setting in this wintry tale of a teen searching for her long-lost mother. Eline’s childhood in Svalbard, Norway, was studded with the stories her lovely but erratic mother, Silje, told her of willful princesses, wish-granting rings, hungry trolls, and helpful winds. Her mother’s magic had a darkness, though, and when Eline was six, Silje disappeared into the sky with the northern lights. Now 16, Eline lives in Cape Cod with her scientist father, and her biggest concern is the hurtful betrayal of her best friend, Iris—until she receives a note, written in Norwegian and carried on the wind, telling her how to contact her mother. Eline’s quest starts with the northern lights appearing in Massachusetts and eventually returns her to Svalbard, where she embarks on a dangerous arctic journey to the glacier where her mother disappeared. This is an emotionally complex tale of the love between mothers and daughters that balances between ominous and cozy, with well-realized characters and a picturesque Norwegian setting. - Copyright 2021 Booklist.
