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Loading... Egg and Spoonby Gregory Maguire
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This is a young adult novel, colorfully narrated by Michael Page, that quite successfully weaves Russian Folk tales into a historical fiction tale of Tsarist Russia, written by the author whose earlier work, “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” (1995) became the world famous Broadway Musical, “Wicked” in 2003. ( ) This was an interesting story based on Russian folk tales with which I was not very familiar. Although not particularly well written, the characters were cleverly developed and endearing (particularly Baba Yaga, but maybe that's just because I'm getting too old to identify with the teens). The ending felt a little bit rushed and abrupt, but that's my only real complaint. It was a fun read and a welcome diversion from real life. Friends of mine recommended this book to me one day while we were on a trip, and we ended up listening to the audiobook for a while together. Later, I looked it up to see if I could listen to the rest of the story, and I was thrilled to find the audiobook on Scribd! This is such a fun story. I’ve been intrigued by folk tales ever since I was a little girl, and putting those together with a masterful storytelling style and the unique wildness and beauty of Russia makes this a delightful read. I felt like I got to know Russia in a new way in this book; even though it’s a far-fetched fantasy, it’s also deeply grounded in the country and people as a whole. This is a story of fighting for survival, companionship and working together, and of hard-won friendship and love. If you enjoy fantasy and adventure tales and don’t mind some magic and mystical characters from Russian folklore showing up (the Firebird, the witch Baba Yaga and her house Dumb Doma, and more!), this would be a great option to read next. Fun, imaginative, and strongly reminiscent of fairy tales, this is a story that would appeal to a wide variety of ages, provided you’re still a child at heart. no reviews | add a review
AwardsNotable Lists
Mythology.
Folklore.
Young Adult Fiction.
Young Adult Literature.
HTML: In this tour de force, master storyteller Gregory Maguire offers a dazzling novel for fantasy lovers of all ages. Elena Rudina lives in the impoverished Russian countryside. Her father has been dead for years. One of her brothers has been conscripted into the Tsar's army, the other taken as a servant in the house of the local landowner. Her mother is dying, slowly, in their tiny cabin. And there is no food. But then a train arrives in the village, a train carrying untold wealth, a cornucopia of food, and a noble family destined to visit the Tsar in Saint Petersburgâ??a family that includes Ekaterina, a girl of Elena's age. When the two girls' lives collide, an adventure is set in motion, an escapade that includes mistaken identity, a monk locked in a tower, a prince traveling incognito, andâ??in a starring role only Gregory Maguire could have conjuredâ??Baba Yaga, witch of Russian folklore, in her ambulatory house perched on chicken l No library descriptions found. |
LibraryThing Early Reviewers AlumGregory Maguire's book Egg & Spoon was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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