Answer My Prayer - Hardcover

Rezensionen

Gr. 7-10. As he did in Dither Farm (1992), Hite blends the ordinary with the exciting and then adds a dollop of the miraculous. The ordinary is Lydia Swain, who lives with her family in the jeefwood forest, where she spends most of her time daydreaming. On a visit to her in-town cousin for an artisans' celebration, Lydia meets a fortune teller who forecasts a sleeping stranger, a stormy sea, a sighing sovereign, and a kiss under a jeefwood tree. So begins an adventure that finds Lydia, along with her sleepy stranger--an angel named Ebol--sailing through a tempest to persuade the king to save the jeefwood forests from a greedy plot. Then, at last, Lydia is reunited with the young artist who has fallen in love with her, and the kiss, too, becomes reality. Hite has a marvelous gift for language, slightly offbeat and wholly entertaining. It allows him to create an imaginary world, the nation of Korasan, that, like Narnia, takes on a life of its own. The characters are also meticulously drawn, and readers will especially enjoy Ebol, a quirky sleepyhead of an angel who champions Lydia--between naps. The angels and their environs add, literally, an extra dimension to the story, and the celestial goings-on enhance the story's complexity and uniqueness. Important issues of love, faith, art, and ecology are raised here; but central to this mosaic are the characters, who make all the pieces fit. The cover art, seemingly carved on wood, is as distinctive as the rest of the book. Ilene Cooper

To read a Sid Hite novel is to travel to a timeless place where miracles lie around every corner. This newest tale, as full of wit and colloquial charm as Dither Farm, takes the reader to Korasan, a land famous for its jeefwood products. There artisans battle to save the precious trees from the greed of an evil regent who intends to export the lumber. At the center of the intricately plotted story is Lydia, a simple country girl who falls in love with a renowned jeefwood carver named Alderson. Distraught that the forests will soon be ravished and fearing for Alderson's safety, Lydia appeals to the heavens for aid. The sincerity of her prayers touches the heart of a rather sluggish angel, who, in a slightly haphazard fashion, attempts to settle conflicts. The author's evident pleasure in inventing and orchestrating a colorful array of characters will be readily shared. Astute observations and philosophical asides add an extra dimension to this story of love and courage. Ages 12-up.
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