About 15 minutes ago, I finished reading Chalice by Robin McKinley. I am now seriously in love with Robin McKinley and the characters of Mirasol and Liapnir, and I am grateful to Leila at Bookshelves of Doom, who blogged about this book and her desire for honey with bread, and how it made her heart fit to bust. Not that I disagree with her: I am craving honey cake, and will settle for honey in my tea. And I'd really like a cloak of bees, or to just, y'know, pet some. And I have a strong hankering to find some fabric with bees on it to use in my decor. Seriously. Maybe gold fabric, to echo the cover of the book. That is a seriously gorgeous cover, is it not?
As anyone who has read this book and is being honest will tell you, this is a quiet book, and it will not be everybody's cup of tea. It requires a bit of work to sort out, not just at the start but much of the way through. Some of that is because our main character, Mirasol, is also busy sorting things out, and some of it is because of the fairy-tale way it is written, and some of it is because that is how the author willed it, I believe. It is not the sort of book for someone who wants action, now, no - not fast enough - NOW! But if you can be quiet, and if you have a bit of patience - only a bit, you don't need a truckload - this book is magic.
Chalice had me wondering about the natures and identities of characters throughout. The story opened itself bit by bit to pull me in with its offerings of sweetness and pain, and by the end I nearly took my husband's head off when he dared to walk in and try to speak to me with a page and half to go, because I'd been pulled that far into the book that his reminder that there was an outside world was decidedly unwelcome and unpleasant, and besides, the tension that had been twisted up so tight leading up to the ending hadn't been all the way released yet, and I really, really wanted, no, needed, to savour that last honeyed dollop and finish the story in full.
And when I finished, I took a deep breath. And I petted my cat (who makes an excellent reading companion because she is small and quiet and warm). And I burst into tears, because a heart can't be that full without making room somehow, and evidently, squeezing moisture out of the eyeballs made just enough space to accommodate it.
.jpeg?picon=2982)
Such a fantastic book! And Carole is awesome. I particularly love the one million words and twenty nine rejections in her story. Great feature, Caroline. xo
I love this new series for your blog Caroline. And Carole, I'm amazed at all the research you did for your book. It's truly amazing. Your book sounds fascinating. And I'm sure it'll help make history more fun.
I just got a facebook message from an old student of mine who is going to start teaching next year. She asked me for book recommendations to include in her reading list. I'm going to point her to your blog! :)
Amy
Carole is amazing, isn't she? And Amy, so glad your student will be teaching and is looking to put together a list of books.
I'm not sure what she'll be teaching, but if you direct her to my website, I've got an assignment I created called Where in the World Are We Reading. It worked perfectly in English, social studies, or general upper elementary classes.
I'd love to share more, if she's interested.
Wow, what an incredible amount of research! I'm sure the book is a testament of how much work went into it! I'll have to read it :)
Wow! Thank you both for taking the time to share!
Thank you, Caroline, for helping TYWWF make its way into the world! To any teachers: I'd be happy to answer questions from your students and (if I can figure out how Skype works) visit them by Skype.
Carole, my pleasure.
Sounds like a fascinating book, especially since it's based on a true story, written by a relative.
It's amazing and mind boggling to think about the extent of research Carole did for this book. That's a story in itself. I'd love to see pictures of all those items she bought. Good luck with the book, Carole. Sounds like a winner to me!
I clicked on Carol's name at the top of your blog post, next to the photo of the book cover. It took me to a page that has info about Carole and also a link to watch the book trailer. Love the trailer! Very cool!