Bodil Bredsdorff

A Batchelder winner in translation from the Danish, The Crow Girl reads like a fairy tale or parable. The story & setting are spare like the rocky coastal settlement where much of the story takes place. The characters, beginning with Crow-Girl & her grandmother are depict human experience (removed from texting & screens) & reality both bitter & sweet.

Crow Girl's grandmother eke out a simple existence &, as Grandmother approaches her death (the vehicle for subsequent action in the story), she warns her grandchild to attend to 3 important truths.

Crow Girl's subsequent dislocation, wanderings, & engagements with new people, places & circumstances demonstrate her grandmother's wisdom & Crow-Girl's resilience.

While the story depicts violence, Crow Girl is still appropriate for Intermediates & possibly sturdy Juniors. In its unblinking examination of a wide range of human emotion, it reads like Farmer Boy or Charlotte's Web.

I will be curious to hear the responses of my students.… (more)

A Batchelder winner in translation from the Danish, The Crow Girl reads like a fairy tale or parable. The story & setting are spare like the rocky coastal settlement where much of the story takes place. The characters, beginning with Crow-Girl & her grandmother are depict human experience (removed from texting & screens) & reality both bitter & sweet.

Crow Girl's grandmother eke out a simple existence &, as Grandmother approaches her death (the vehicle for subsequent action in the story), she warns her grandchild to attend to 3 important truths.

Crow Girl's subsequent dislocation, wanderings, & engagements with new people, places & circumstances demonstrate her grandmother's wisdom & Crow-Girl's resilience.

While the story depicts violence, Crow Girl is still appropriate for Intermediates & possibly sturdy Juniors. In its unblinking examination of a wide range of human emotion, it reads like Farmer Boy or Charlotte's Web.

I will be curious to hear the responses of my students.… (more)