|
Our Choice 2007
The Canadian Children's Book Centre
What Reviewers
are saying about The Separated
...Troon Harrison has created a fantastic
world full of interesting and memorable characters. The three main
characters are vulnerable and trying to understand their place in the
world around them, something that will be recognizable to many young
adult readers. ...Fantasy readers will especially appreciate the rich
details that are woven throughout the story about time and place. The
subplot with Giovanni and the pirates might also attract readers who
are looking for an adventure story. The Separated is an exciting, fast
paced fantasy that will appeal to many young adult readers who
appreciate the genre.
Recommended for schools and libraries.
Thematic Links: Fantasy Fiction; Good vs. Evil; Magic; Sorcery;
Pirates
Resource Links –Connecting Classrooms, Libraries &
Canadian Learning Resources Volume 12, Number 1, October
2006
This story will
appear to many fans of fantasy tales. While seemingly targeted toward
the young adult market, (the main characters are sixteen), the book
may also appeal to adult fantasy readers as well, especially those who
love tales told in a style reminiscent of an Italian Medici mystery.
Recommended -CM Magazine |
|
|
|
|
About the Author
Troon Harrison is an internationally published award-winning author and
editor.
She was born in Canada but grew up in Cornwall, England. After
schooling, she returned to Canada and now lives near Toronto, where she
writes and teaches.
She writes in a range of genres--picture books, teen
novels, and junior chapter books-some 22 books in all.
If you'd like to write to her, her e-mail address is: troon@nexicom.net
|
| Excerpt from
The Separated
Hour after hour the magrazzi’s slender legs ate up the miles as the
mountains loomed closer, like a breaking wave of blackness against the
stars. In the darkest hour of the night, the hour before dawn, the
magrazzi slowed its pace and began to climb upwards while Vita hunched in
the purple saddle, too cold and exhausted and sick with anxiety to move or
speak. Sometimes she heard the voices of wombos muttering softly in the
forest and sometimes the moon shone in their eyes as they hung on
branches. A hunting gufo hooted far away and a moon moth fluttered past,
its green wings translucent in the faint light.
The magrazzi moved more slowly as the path steepened
until it was picking its way at a walk, its delicate cleft hooves
searching for safe places on the rocky ground.
I must rest, it said shyly at last. Sorry.
Rest, don’t worry, Vita told it and the animal moved
off the trail and folded its legs, sinking into the shadow beneath a
magnolia tree. Vita slid off and fell face forward, her legs too stiff to
support her. She knelt and pulled a blanket from her pack, which she
spread beside the magrazzi. Its wide eyes were already closed, its purple
curling lashes hanging down. Vita huddled against its warm velvet side and
fell into a fitful sleep.
The birds awoke Vita at dawn as the olive thrush’s
music and moon wren’s chitter filled the forest and splashed down the
mountain slopes:. Vita rubbed her cold arms and aching back. The magrazzi
still slept and Vita remembered that it was a night animal in its own
land. She stared at it for a moment in sympathy and admiration, wishing
that she didn’t have to wake it.
Sister, she whispered and the animal's lashes
fluttered.
It’s morning. I’m sorry to wake you. We have to go on
-- my journey’s urgent. I must guard the Corno d'Oro.
Click here to download a 13x19
poster of The Separated
--When printing select
"fit to paper" under page scaling.
HOME |
