The Tale of Despereaux
Kate DiCamillo
Candlewick Press
Fiction, YA Fantasy
****
DESCRIPTION: Sole survivor of his mother's last litter, the mouse Despereaux came into the world under a cloud of superstition. For one thing, he was born with his eyes open, and for another his ears were far too large for a proper castle mouse. As he grew, he developed a strange fascination with books and, to his family's shame, repeatedly failed to behave as he ought to: terrified and scurrying. Then Despereaux, head full of chivalrous ideas and unmouselike bravery, meets the beautiful human princess of the castle, and quite foolishly loses his heart as he is caught up in a tale of grief and longing and love... and soup.
REVIEW: I was unimpressed with DiCamillo's The Tiger Rising (liked the writing style, wanted more story), but I saw the preview for the upcoming Despereaux
movie and thought it looked good, so I figured I should read the book first. First off, just judging by the previews, a fair bit has been changed for the movie. That said, I
enjoyed this book. DiCamillo's almost lyrical writing style supports a nice story here, with more depth than one might think at first. Despereaux's tale, painted in shades of
bright light and brooding shadow, touches on many emotions, with an overall air of determination in the face of global disapproval. Some of the characters were disturbingly
dense, but then several young adult fantasies (and full-grown adult fantasies as well) would be much shorter if everyone had a full complement of marbles in their skulls
through the entire book. The author interruptions in the narrative got old; it was a good enough story that she didn't need to keep interrupting it to explain itself. Either
she should trust her audience to follow her through the dark bits or not write them at all. Other than that, it's a good book.
And, no, I still haven't gotten around to watching the movie.
You might also enjoy:
Casting Shadows (J. Kelley Anderson, Fiction - An angry young man turns to magic for vengeance, only to find himself defending the people he wanted to destroy)
The Hork-Bajir Chronicles (K. A. Applegate, YA Fiction - A prequel to the Animorphs series, where an Andalite girl whose family has been ostracized meets a prodigy among the simple Hork-Bajir)
Redwall (Brian Jacques, YA? Fiction - The animals of Redwall Abbey face a horde of evil rats)
Guardian Cats and the Lost Books of Alexandria (Rahma Krambo, YA Fiction - A housecat must help defend a powerful book from evil forces)
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents (Terry Pratchett, YA Fiction - A cat running a rat-plague con with co-conspirator rodents and a boy piper runs into a real problem)
Dragon's Fire, Wizard's Flame (Michael Mennenga, YA Fiction - A young flameless dragon, seen as a freak by his kind, sets out on a quest to "find his fire")
Heroes of the Valley (Jonathan Stroud, YA Fiction - Raised on tales of his heroic ancestor, a boy attempts to avenge his uncle with disastrous results)
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The Tiger Rising
Kate DiCamillo
Candlewick Press
Fiction, YA General Fiction
***
DESCRIPTION: Since the day of his mother's funeral, Rob Horton hasn't let himself cry, or remember, or even think about his loss. He is bullied mercilessly at his new school, but hardly cares, too busy keeping his not-thoughts and not-crying from overwhelming him. Then, one day, he finds a caged tiger in the woods. Somehow, the memories and the tiger seem one and the same, both tied also to an angry girl named Sistine whose own rage consumes her.
REVIEW: This wasn't bad, but it wasn't very long. I had hoped for more character development, and more with the tiger itself. As it was, the whole matter resolves itself in a couple days of story time and maybe an hour or so of reading time. What story there is is written well, at least, as it deals with the emotional aftermath of tragedies and the very human need to grieve. Considering what I paid for it, I guess I just wanted more.
You might also enjoy:
Heart of a Tiger (Marsha Diane Arnold, YA Picture Book - A shy gray kitten wants a tiger's name on Naming Day)
Devil's Race (Avi, YA Fiction - A boy is haunted by an evil ancestor)
Wolf Rider (Avi, YA Fiction - When a stranger calls to confess a murder that hasn't happened, a boy can't stop digging to find out who it was)
The Stoneheart trilogy (Charlie Fletcher, YA Fiction - An angry boy who strikes a stone dragon finds himself pulled into the invisble war between the gargoyles and the statues of London)
Swamplandia! (Karen Russell, YA? Fiction - After her mother's death, a girl watches helplessly as her family's tourist trap empire disintegrates)
The Five Ancestors: Tiger (Jeff Stone, YA Fiction - A young kung fu master bonds with an orphaned tiger cub)
Dragon's Bait (Vivian Vande Velde, YA Fiction - A girl accused of witchcraft plots vengeance with a dragon ally)
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