Now, Chloe is back home, back in Ruby’s sphere. For a few years Chloe was exiled from that magic, sent to live out of state with her father. When Ruby is around, the world seems to revolve around her and Chloe is just happy that she included in Ruby’s world, in that golden light where anything can happen. There are books where heroines are kick-ass and in charge what I love about Elisa is that this book shows how a girl becomes strong and take-charge. Forced outside of her safe bubble of servants and books, the indulged princess discovers she is made of stronger stuff than people think. Elisa is controlled by those around her: first there is an arranged marriage to the ruler of a faraway country, later she is kidnapped. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson.Ī young woman is destined for greatness: what that will mean is a mystery. By removing the Lancasters, the Yorks, and any other familiar touchstone or name or place, Hinwood creates a place where the reader does not associate any one person or side with the “winner” or “loser,” the “good” or the “bad.” It answers the questions that I, as a history reader, wonder about – what happens to the people after the battles are fought? How do they live that next day, next month, next year? It is the villages changed by the War of the Roses, the aftermath of the Norman Invasion, the new Tudor rulers, World War I battle devastation. The Returning is a fantasy only in the sense that it is not our world there is a medieval feel to this time and place, but no single thing ties it to our world enough to call it an alternate history. People are freed from doing what they had always done, being who everyone expected them to be. At first it seems that only Cam Attling, missing an arm, has been changed by the war, but it touches all in both large and small ways. In reverse order, my favorite five for 2011:Ī young man comes home from war, returning to the small village he left as a boy. If you want my complete, really long list of my favorite books read in 2011, I’ve tagged them all in my blog as “Favorite Books Read in 2011.” Despite the intense, personal pain it caused me to narrow that list to five, I knew I had to. No one can second guess a favorite!Ģ011 had some outstanding books I love the chance to flip through my reading life of 2011 and see what touched me – what made me laugh, what made me cry, what made me think, and what made me want to lock my doors and check under the beds. I love Favorite Book lists, because it removes any pressure. Liz is a first-timer Smugglivus guest and one we are honored to welcome. Who: Liz Burns, who blogs about young adult books, TV, and other things that capture her fancy at the excellent A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy over at School Library Journal. Welcome to Smugglivus 2011! Throughout this month, we will have daily guests – authors and bloggers alike – looking back at their favorite reads of 2011, and looking forward to events and upcoming books in 2012.

The returning by christine hinwood