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I will be blogging about all of the latest and greatest books that I have read.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Alchemy and Meggy Swan by Karen Cushman

Age Range:  Grades 5-8

Meggy Swann is a 13 year old girl who is sent to London to be with her father.  Meggy's grandmother is dead and her own mother is happy to see her go.  The story is set in Elizabethan London in 1573.  Meggy has bilateral hip dysplasia and must use walking sticks to get around.  Her only friend her goose, Louise, has a slipped wing and cannot fly.  Meggy's father is unhappy that she is not a boy and that she is crippled.  Her father, Master Ambrose, is an alchemist who attempts to turn metal to gold and find the elixir of life.  He is obsessed with his work and sinks all of his money into his research.  Meggy helps her father in his laboratory and runs errands for him.  Meggy is forced to virtually make it on her own in London.  Over time, she makes many friends through Roger, the Grimm family, the Cooper's family, and the Allen family.  Meggy becomes stronger and more independent as the story unfolds.  She sings and prints an original ballad to help save her father and a Baron.  Metafiction is displayed through the imaginary possibility that Meggy's father might actually find the elixir of life and also be able to turn medal to gold.  This book also provokes questions of whether Meggy will be able to make it in London with a father that does not care for her.  The transformation that Meggy makes from the beginning of the book to the end is amazing. 

Here is a link for a video where the author talks about and gives insight into this book:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m3U9YQM746MIL0/ref=ent_fb_link

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