September 1, 2018
Gr 5-8-For fans of reworked fairy tales, McGuire takes on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Wild Swans." Princess Andaryn, aka Ryn, is the youngest in her family, which includes her widower father and her six older brothers. When her father remarries a beautiful witch who enchants him and the rest of the kingdom, they are all in jeopardy. A showdown with the witch puts Ryn's prince brothers into danger, so the princess strikes a bargain with her stepmother: to spare her brothers' lives, Ryn must remain silent for six years. During that time, her brothers will live as swans. Now Ryn must run away and try to discover how to thwart the evil queen before the six years are up-all without endangering the lives of her brothers. Darker than most contemporary reworkings of classic tales, McGuire hews closely to the source material and keeps it in the original time and place. It is refreshing to see the princess (and youngest sibling at that) save the princes. She is clever, courageous, and persistent, and she experiences much growth and maturity as the novel progresses. At first, the identities of the brothers seem confusing, but they are written distinctly enough that readers will be able to tell them apart as the story progresses. There is some violence and romance, yet nothing too intense, making it an acceptable choice for older elementary and middle school students, especially those interested in the world of Game of Thrones, but not mature enough to watch the show. VERDICT A finely crafted and compelling fairy-tale retelling. Hand to voracious fantasy readers and fans of Gail Carson Levine and Shannon Hale.-Kate Nafz, Fair Lawn Public Library, NJ
Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from July 15, 2018
Twelve-year-old Princess Andaryn will do anything to save her father, her six older brothers, and her kingdom from her father's new "witch-wife," even if it means her silence. Her father hasn't been the same since he was lost in the forest and then rescued by the imperious woman he then married. Once kind and attentive, he is now distracted; once gentle and just, he now permits brutal, capricious punishments. When the queen threatens to kill her brothers, Ryn bargains for their lives. She agrees to remain silent for six years while her brothers are changed into swans. Rather than stay at the castle to be tormented, Ryn flees, fakes her own death, and disappears into the countryside. There, she seeks the help of the queen's mentor, a strange, addled old woman living in the midst of a nettle bush. She learns that the only way to break the spell is to fashion tunics made of nettles for each of her brothers. Relentlessly pursued by Otherworldly creatures drawn from the Great Hunt, Ryn is forced to stay on the move. She is soon joined by a hen, her sister-in-law, and later by her baby nephew, but it is not until she meets a ruler from another land that she begins to turn her eyes toward home again. Ryn is depicted as white on the cover; diversity in this Europe-esque fantasy land is limited to magical creatures. This imaginative retelling of a familiar Brothers Grimm story is filled with magic, romance, and peril, but where it shines is in the quiet moments. Ryn's strength, love, and sacrifice make her heroic, but her fear, fatigue, and insecurity make her human. An imaginative retelling with an unforgettable heroine. (Fantasy. 9-13)
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August 1, 2018
Grades 4-8 A girl does not speak for six years to save her brothers' lives in this riveting retelling of the Brothers Grimm's Six Swans. Princess Andaryn's idyllic life with her six older brothers comes to a disturbing end when a mind-controlling enchantress marries her father. When the enchantress turns her brothers into swans, Andaryn promises silence for six years in order to free them. Over those six years, Andaryn goes on the run to escape the enchantress-queen's army, sees her brothers in their human forms on full moons, and figures out how to defeat the enchantress. Even though Andaryn does not speak for most of the book, she is far from voiceless. Her discovery of how to fight back with seemingly useless weapons such as silence, spindles, and stinging nettles sends an empowering message. Andaryn's change from a protected princess to a resilient woman adds a poignant coming-of-age element to the story, and her relationships with her six brothers offer plenty of humor and depth. A captivating adventure about power, memory, and love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)
September 1, 2018
In this retelling of the Grimms' tale The Six Swans, princess Ryn is the only one of the king's seven children who isn't beguiled by her father's new wife. When they see how the queen treats Ryn, however, her older brothers begin to fight back, only to be turned into swans. The story of how Ryn escapes her stepmother and works in silence for six years making shirts out of nettles to break her brothers' enchantment is fleshed out with a fantasy framework that employs believable catalysts to unpack some of the fairy tale's more mystical plot points, bringing readers into close sympathy with the protagonist. The brothers return to human form at every full moon, giving them an active presence in the story's events, while the supernatural conditions of their imprisonment and the unearthly danger posed by their stepmother contrast with grounded descriptions of real-life textile creation from plant to cloth. Inventive twists on the original tale and a few last-minute reversals bring vitality to the well-known ending, and Ryn's sustained silence and use of sign language are entirely convincing. anita l. burkam
(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
January 1, 2019
Princess Ryn's older brothers are turned into swans by their new stepmother. This retelling of the Grimms' tale "The Six Swans" is fleshed out with a fantasy framework that employs believable catalysts to unpack some of the tale's more mystical plot points, bringing readers into close sympathy with protagonist Ryn. Inventive twists on the original bring vitality to the well-known ending.
(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)