Annet Schaap

Mijn dochter van bijna acht kwam met tranen in haar ogen de trap af. Ik had haar in bed gestoken, maar ze las liever verder over Lampje. Na die tranen, ben ik zelf ook beginnen lezen. Twee bladwijzers: een voor mij en een voor haar! En ik heb ook een paar tranen gelaten... De sfeer van dit boek blijft nazinderen. Prachtig hoe weinig woorden Annet Schaap nodig heeft om veel te vertellen.

Of Salt and Shore is a story of pirates and sideshows and secrets and loss. But it’s also the story of Emalia aka “Lampie,” a spunky little girl with the same kind of moxie that makes Pippi Longstockings so endearing. I was hooked like a fish on a line. The story is emotionally engaging, and I didn’t want it to end. I love when a book makes me feel something toward the characters, and reading this made me want to hug Lampie, smack her daddy, and drop a bag of flour on storekeeper show more Mrs. Rosewood’s foot, and that’s just within the first couple of chapters. Lampie has to overcome a lot of obstacles, and she takes a lot of knocks, but she keeps getting herself back up and pushing ahead. No matter what happens, she just keeps moving forward. Her life is full of action, adventure, tragedy, and, eventually, kindred spirits and camaraderie. I think the knickname Lampie fits because, no matter how dark a turn things take, she finds a way to shine a light into the situation.
I could easily see Of Salt and Shore being made into a movie, perhaps something along the lines of A Monster Calls, only not quite as dark. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and stayed up late reading into the wee hours because I couldn’t put it down.
I received an ARC from Netgalley for an honest review, and that’s exactly what my review is: honest. show less

Lampie, the lighthouse keeper's daughter, has largely taken over his responsibilities after the death of his wife (her mother), but one day she forgets to buy matches, and that night a ship crashes into a rock in a storm. Augustus tries to take responsibility, but the townspeople are vengeful: they take Lampie to work in Admiral Black's house for seven years to pay off the cost of the ship, and lock Augustus in the lighthouse.

Lampie is afraid of the monster rumored to live in the Black show more house, but at first, she only meets Martha, the cook; her son Lenny, who doesn't speak; and Nick, a kind but taciturn gardener/carpenter. Finally, Lampie does meet the monster, but she thinks he is more boy than monster; what he insists is a "deformity" is clearly a tail. A trip to see the "phenomenal freaks" at the fair helps to convince him that his mother was indeed a mermaid, but just as he begins to embrace his newfound ability to swim, Admiral Black returns home and threatens the delicate equilibrium of the house's inhabitants.

A wholly original fairy tale that draws on Beauty & the Beast and The Little Mermaid, with echoes of The Secret Garden.

Quotes

She always has so much inside her head: songs, stories, things she has to learn, things she wants to forget but that keep coming back. When she needs to remember something, she often forgets it, but she always remembers whatever she wants to forget. (16)

Wishing is not going to help. What he wanted most of all did not happen. And the one thing he really, truly did not wish for, well, that did happen. No one ever listens to him. (27)

Something is keeping her here and making her do things she does not really feel brave enough to do. (127)

She knows pirates? He can't imagine that at all. So she must be lying. (192)

You know, the thing about the past, the whole world whispers in her ear, is that it's over. (211)

But people don't come into this tent to change their minds; they come to be frightened. (223)

I can do this, she thinks. I've learned how. And maybe this is why. (Lampie, writing, 312)

But Lampie is tired. Tired of pushing against the world; she cannot keep it up. (341)

Sometimes when you really, really want something for a very long time and then you finally get it, a sort of silence descends, a moment of stillness when no one knows what to do. (349) show less

Waarom leest een volwassene een kinderboek? Omdat het 1 van de weinige boeken is die mijn dochter niet kreeg uitgelezen. Het maakte me zo benieuwd. Ik was eerst wat gechoqueerd door het heftige begin. Begrijpelijk dat een boek dat met kindermishandeling begint niet echt ieder kind aanspreekt. Maar het loont de moeite om verder te lezen, want Lampje is een echte heldin, je maakt kennis met een bijtende zeemeerman, er is een bont kermisgezelschap dat aan "The greatest showman" doet denken, er show more zijn echte piraten enz.

De personages ontwikkelen zich voortdurend en kunnen veel meer dan je op het eerste zicht zou denken. Om te beginnen is Lampje natuurlijk veel dapperder dan wij allemaal samen. Er is ook Lennie die helemaal open bloeit. Op het einde zit hij helemaal niet meer enkel in kranten te knippen. Zelfs Augustus, de vader van Lampje, ondergaat een metamorfose eens de alcohol uit zijn leven is verdwenen.

Wat krijg je als een illustratrice een verhaal schrijft? Een beeldend boek en terechte winnaar van verschillende prijzen. Beetje bij beetje kom je dingen te weten en je kan het boek niet weg leggen. Een ***** aanrader! show less