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Title: The Rope Trick by Lloyd Alexander ISBN: 0-525-47020-4 Publisher: Dutton Books Pub. Date: October, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.83 (6 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: I loved it!
Comment: This book was great!I tried to put it down, but found myself picking it up again. I liked the characters. Lidi isn't one of those mushy, shy girls that usually star in books. I really like Julian and Jericho and I definately loved Daniella. You should give this book a chance.
Rating: 5
Summary: John Peters's review is flat wrong!
Comment: Let's get this straight - In his School Library Journal review of "The Rope Trick," that Amazon uses as a review of this book, John Peters gets nothing right, to the point that is makes me wonder whether he just flipped to the last few pages in order to mail in his review and collect a check.
This book is brilliant, a challenging work designed to tax the reading and comprehension levels of young teens. Besides giving away a major part of the ending, Peters badly misconstrues major themes in the work. This is a book about how we see God - in our own image, mostly - and how we each find our path to God. It is a major book for young teens that addresses issues such as causes of sectarian conflict as well as the individual's relationship to the Divine.
Read this book, and more importantly get your your young teenaged readers to read it, and then discuss it with them. You and they will not be disappointed. Ignore anything Peters writes - same result.
Rating: 4
Summary: Wound pretty tight
Comment: "Rope Trick" is both similar and different from many of Lloyd Alexander's previous works, and it seems first and foremost to be a study on the characters rather than a story. Not that that's a bad thing -- Alexander's plot is intriguing, fresh, and has plenty of lovable and complex people.
Lidi is an excellent magician, but there is one magic trick that she doesn't know: The fabled rope trick. She and her kindly mentor Jericho rescue a neglected orphan from an abusive innkeeper, and find that little Daniella can predict the future. No sooner have the two made her an "Added Attraction" (she predicted that too) than they encounter a young outlaw named Julian sleeping under their wagon. A scuffle with soldiers sends them on the run to another province.
There they bump into many different people who have encountered the strange magician Ferramondo, who is seen differently by every person. He also knows the rope trick. Lidi begins a desperate search for Ferramondo, convinced that she will not be a true magician until she does. But sinister men are trying to get hold of Daniella for their own gain, and Julian is seeking revenge against "Baboon," the man who killed his uncle and drove him to become an outlaw.
This book is somewhat different from most of Alexander's books. The protagonist is a young girl rather than a boy (even the Vesper Holly books were narrated by a man) with a sad past, and there are more serious, melancholy themes. Julian in particular is a break from Alexander's naive young heroes-in-training, who learn their lessons along the way. It's also full of more introspection, as Lidi often stops to contemplate herself and others. The love story between Lidi and Julian is handled with delicacy, and goes very gradually over the book.
Perhaps the biggest problem is the finale. It's more than a little difficult to understand why what happens does happen, as it doesn't really seem to be entirely connected to the plotline behind it. It is, however, an interesting development and opens possible paths to a sequel; the various subplots are woven together like... well, like a rope. Alexander's writing is spare but amazingly evocative, and his dialogue is full of the same pep and charm as ever.
Fans of Lloyd Alexander will find an enjoyable tale of magic and mystery, and newcomers will enjoy this introduction to Alexander's work. Not his best, but a very good read.
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Title: Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi ISBN: 0786808284 Publisher: Hyperion Press Pub. Date: 03 June, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.99 |
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Title: Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde ISBN: 0152045600 Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: Gypsy Rizka by Lloyd Alexander, S. November ISBN: 0141309806 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: 23 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris ISBN: 0152167919 Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: Daughter of Venice by Donna Jo Napoli ISBN: 0385327803 Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books Pub. Date: 12 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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