  | Paradise Sands : a story of enchantment Author: Pinfold, Levi | |
| Price: $23.28 | ||
Summary:
When a young girl and her older brothers step into the ghostly Paradise Sands hotel, they fall under the rule of the mysterious Teller. The girl makes a deal with the commanding creature to free them all from his haunting paradise--and let them return to their mother, white roses in hand. But can the girl, determined as she is, hold up her side of the bargain?
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (08/01/22)
School Library Journal (12/01/22)
Booklist (03/15/23)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (+) (00/11/22)
The Hornbook (+) (00/11/22)
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 12/01/2022 Gr 4–6—The story begins with a six-line poem under a small, rectangular image of a tough, leafless tree with white blossoms. The slightly overexposed, photorealistic style continues throughout, as a girl and her three older brothers drive through a desert landscape. The four leave the car to pick flowers for their mother, but the boys run off, reciting lines from the poem, leaving the girl to follow them into a silent, massive building, where they unwisely drink, eat, and are therefore trapped. The girl, cleverly, does not eat or drink, and makes a deal with a huge lion called the Teller to get her brothers back. She keeps her bargain, and the four reach their mother, who seems to be staying in a medical facility (bed with wheels, no decorations); from the girl, the mother intuits what happened on their trip. The whole story has the haunting, ominous feel of an old, dark fairy tale; in the illustrations, which have a bleached quality, the human characters are often dwarfed by the landscape, buildings, or animals. VERDICT This spare, atmospheric book may require some book-talking to find an audience, although it could be used in a unit on fairy tales and legends.—Jenny Arch - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
