          |
Classic Tale Novels by Donna Jo Napoli:
Hush: An Irish Princess' Tale (Coming October 2007)
Meet Pan: half-god/half-goat, full of life, frolicking in the woods with maenads, playing his pipes, and creating pan-ic. In Napoli's version of the story, he meets Iphigenia by chance and falls in love with her. Innocence disappears, and the curse placed upon him at birth-that he will never be loved-seems destined to come true, for his life revolves around finding her again. And he does find her, just as she is about to be sacrificed by her own father. Pan devises a trick to save Iphigenia's life at the expense of his own, his love for the woman outweighing his lust for life. Napoli has written a fine story-it is fast paced, the characters and setting are well realized, and it even has intrigue and randy scenes of woodland romps tailored for teens. However, scholars of Greek mythology will find a strange dichotomy in this story: many bits of the known tales of both Pan and Iphigenia are here, but there is also a fabricated story that connects the two characters. Napoli has included many details from ancient texts, providing needed background for mythology novices. However, she has also created a story that fills in the "gaps" in each tale, rewriting myth for modern readers. Purists may find fault with this, but teens who enjoyed books such as Caroline Cooney's Goddess of Yesterday (Delacorte, 2002) will simply find a good story. Ages 12 and up. (From School Library Journal).
Once again Napoli takes an old story and offers new perspectives for thoughtful readers to ponder. While young people may be unfamiliar with the story of the Sirens, lack of knowledge will not prevent them from enjoying this absorbing novel. Here, the creatures are depicted as pubescent mermaids who crave the immortality that only a man's love will give them. Sirena, one of a school of 10 such sea creatures, turns her back on her sisters and chooses to live in silent isolation rather than follow her prescribed role as an enchantress. While there are plenty of references to mythic characters and events, the heart of this novel is Sirena's all-too-human story of love found and lost when the injured Philoctetes is abandoned on an island by his shipmates. As in her earlier titles, the author both expands upon the original story, offering background information and details of newly imagined events, and tells the tale from a different, decidedly personal perspective. The prose moves fluidly and the chapters flow smoothly into one another, emphasizing and complementing the watery setting and the swift passage of time. Secondary characters are clearly drawn yet retain a sense of distance that enhances the story's mythic aspects. Napoli uses Sirena's love of storytelling to insert details and information that may be unfamiliar to modern readers. This love of story will quickly and easily transfer to YAs who will fall under the spell of her siren song and eagerly await her next foray into reimagined fantasy. It is also likely that the book will encourage readers to seek out the myths and literature that inspired it. Ages 12 and up. (From School Library Journal)
Napoli has created two stories in this intriguing novel. One is the creation of a plausible explanation for the brief mentions of Mary Magdalene in the New Testament. The second is that same tale seen as a story of a young woman who finds herself an outsider. The narrative is rich with modern issues of gender, disability, violence against women, and spirituality. Miriam describes her life from age 10 to 16 when she is deeply troubled by the occurrence of "fits," which over the years come upon her 7 times. She is driven in her loneliness to explore nature and to learn the songs and poetry of her faith. Her closest relationship is with severely disabled Abraham. As teenagers, the two become lovers, briefly, before he dies. Pregnant, Miriam withdraws into herself until, after being raped, she loses the child and is forced to seek shelter elsewhere. In her travels, she hears of the great healer Joshua, or Jesus. At the end of the tale she finds him; she is cured of the seven devils and becomes a follower of the Master. Knowledge of ancient Hebrew culture, an ability to express the feelings and anguish of an intense young woman, and skillful weaving of plot and character create a gripping novel that is hard to put down. The necessity of finding an ending compatible with the Biblical scene in which Mary Magdalene first appears does in the end constrain a plot that is otherwise highly inventive and complex. Napoli has taken up a challenging and possibly controversial topic and created an interesting book that should lead readers to look further into both Old and New Testament histories. Ages 12 and up. (From School Library Journal)
A midwife-cum-sorceress known simply as the Ugly One narrates this riveting tale of how, tricked by the devil's minions, she lost her gifts for healing and was forced to become a witch. Escaping from the stake, where she is about to be burned, she ekes out a solitary existence in an enchanted forest--until she takes in two wandering children named Hansel and Gretel. As she did in The Prince of the Pond , Napoli gives a classic fairy tale an entirely new twist, at the same time incorporating absorbing details about medieval religious beliefs. The witch's "true" history as a devoted mother and pious servant of God renders her a compelling and entirely sympathetic figure, a heroine courageously fighting the evil spirits that have invaded her once-pure life. The Hansel and Gretel motif, carefully woven into the story, emerges as a surprise for the reader, albeit a surprise that has been fully prepared. The author's extraordinary craftsmanship and originality never flag, and even the archetypically fiery ending for the witch acquires a new dimension. A YA novel of genuine magic and suspense, this will captivate adults as well. Ages 12-up. (From Publishers Weekly)
As she has done for The Frog Prince and Hansel and Gretel, Napoli here visits her magic upon the tale of Rapunzel, creating a work of depth and beauty. In mid-16th-century Switzerland, Zel, on the threshold of adolescence, accompanies her mother on a rare trip from their remote cottage to the village. By chance she meets a youth named Konrad; unknown to her, he is the son of the count, and he is charmed by her apparent simplicity and forthright manner. Napoli gently guides the reader through the inevitable consequences of this meeting, mining every movement in the fairy tale for its psychological treasures. Zel's mother, no longer a routine villainess, has sacrificed everything, even her soul, for the witchcraft that enables her to have a daughter; a desperate fear of Konrad's attentions drives her to imprison Zel in the famous tower. Isolated, Zel wavers between recognition of her mother's sacrifices and her own fury, and wanders into madness. Konrad, meanwhile, must discover the difference between love and obsession. Napoli imagines the precise quality of the mother's supernatural powers, the colors of the stones in Zel's tower, the rustle of the trees in the forest. But the genius of the novel lies not just in the details but in its breadth of vision. Its shiveringly romantic conclusion will leave readers spellbound. Ages 11-up. (From Publishers Weekly)
Revisiting Jack and the Beanstalk, Napoli (Spinners) makes the plot bleaker but the message inspirational. aan uneasy mix that reduces rather than expands the impact of the familiar story. Jack is nine when his father gambles away the family farm and later accidentally steps off a cliff to his death. The narrative then skips ahead seven years. Jack batters himself unconscious in a yearly attempt to climb that same cliff; it is to his madness that his mother attributes his famous exchange of their cow for magic beans. As in Beneduce and Spirin's version (see their Jack and the Beanstalk, reviewed above), this giant is complicit in Jack's father's death, but there are a number of innovations. Jack hopes to win back the love of his childhood sweetheart, Flora, whose purity stands in sharp contrast to the woman in the giant's castle, here a lascivious sort who cares more for riches than for freedom. Much is made of following one's dreams: e.g., the fairy who gives Jack the magic beans urges him to stay true to his love of farming. The stolen treasures lose their luxury once Jack comes back to earthAthe hen (no, not a goose) remains a prolific layer but of ordinary (not golden) eggs, the lyre becomes an instrument for Jack ("I play a freedom song for the woman of the castle"). It is no surprise when Flora leaves her materialistic suitor for Jack with his good values. Napoli has made an odd trade of her own, swapping the boundlessness of archetypal fantasy for a touch of piety. Ages 12-up.
This is the story of two spinners. The first honed his craft at a stolen wheel, crippling his leg, turning a room full of straw into a glittering dress for his beloved--and losing her. The second steals moments to teach herself. Saskia is her name, and she grows up to be a master spinner. Nothing is beyond her--until she, too, must spin straw into gold. And it is then that they meet . . . Ages 11-up. (From Dutton)
In this take on "Beauty and the Beast," Napoli focuses on Beast before French beauty Belle enters his life. The first-person story begins in Persia, where proud prince Orasmyn, who loves roses, makes an unfortunate decision that sets in motion a curse: he becomes a lion who can only be restored by the love of a woman. Realizing he must leave Persia to prevent his father from killing him, he uses his instincts, both human and bestial, to embark on a torturous trek that leads to India, back to Persia, and eventually to France, where he's heard the roses are the best in the world. In France, he settles in a deserted, purportedly haunted castle and revives the gardens, not an easy task in his beast form. Eventually, a man who was lost in a storm arrives and picks a rose. Here, the traditional tale kicks in, with the only difference being the Beast's laborious efforts to make his castle habitable for the expected young woman. Napoli skillfully shows Orasmyn as both human and beast; he learns to survive and to kill and eat prey, yet he always maintains his humanity. She also infuses her tale with a keen flavor of ancient Islamic culture and religion. It's a winning version for genre fans. Ages 12-up. (From Booklist)
Salz is a boy afflicted with cystic fibrosis -- though in the Middle Ages in Saxony no one can identify it as such. Instead he is an outcast, living with his unfeeling father and superstitious brothers in a hovel outside Hameln. His grandmother has kept Salz alive by having him avoid the mead and beer commonly drunk by all and by teaching him how to clear his lungs. When the townsfolk of Hameln are affected by a mold that grows on the hops -- poisoning their mead and beer -- Salz is one of the few who are unaffected. The mold's effect is hallucinogenic, and soon Hameln is in the grips of a plague of madness, followed by a plague of rats. It is only Salz who can proclaim the truth -- although it might cost him his life. Ages 12-up. (From Amazon.com)
Starred Review. Grade 5-9–Napoli takes the elements of the traditional Chinese version of "Cinderella" and creates a powerful and moving story. Xing Xing is left to the mercy of her stepmother after the death of her father. Focusing on a good marriage for her own big-footed daughter, the woman binds the poor girl's feet even though she is past the usual age for this painful procedure. Xing Xing's only pleasure is her daily contact with a beautiful white carp in the pond where she draws water. To her, the fish seems to be the spirit of her mother helping her endure her difficult life. When the stepmother kills it, the girl is devastated, but she retrieves the bones from the garbage heap and, in the process of hiding them, discovers a green silk gown and gold slippers that belonged to her mother. Dressed in this rich garb, Xing Xing goes to the festival where she loses one slipper in her effort to escape detection. The slipper is eventually bought by an unconventional prince; when he finally finds its owner, Xing Xing considers her options and decides to marry him. Napoli retains the pattern of the traditional Chinese tale with only a few minor changes: she sets the story in the northern province of Shaanxi during the Ming dynasty rather than in a minority community in southern China. She fleshes out and enriches the story with well-rounded characters and with accurate information about a specific time and place in Chinese history; the result is a dramatic and masterful retelling. Ages 11 and up. (From School Library Journal)