I just finished a powerful, wonderful book. Maggie Stiefvater's Scorpio Races. Please, do me a favor, and read this book!
The plot is a beautifully crafted work of art. The story weaves together two main characters and the mystical legend of water horses. The key here is "horses". This is such a creative twist on the Scotch/Irish mythology, that the reader somehow forgets anything she might have read before about water horses. Somehow, the plots twists and turns enough that the reader is forced to concede that the story might not end in a "happy ever after". And then -- it does. Masterful storytelling at work here.
The teacher in me loved this book, as well. I found myself wanting to underline passages, leaving yellow sticky notes tucked in the pages, going back to reread periodically. Many literary elements combine to make this a teacher's dream! If I was still teaching Pre-AP English, I'd be using this powerful book with my sophomores.
How about this example of powerful setting (and the English teacher-voice begs me to add "simile" and "imagery"):
"There's no one on the second floor of the tearoom at this time of day. It is only me and a herd of small, cloth-covered tables, each bearing a purple thistle flower in a vase. The room is long and narrow and low-ceilinged; it feels like a pleasant coffin or a suffocating church. Everything glows in slightly rose hues because of the pink lacy curtains in front of the small windows behind me. I am the darkest thing in the room." (Chapter 22)
Or this sampling from Chapter 10:
"It's been a long time since I've been in Skarmouth after dark, and it reminds me of the time that Dad cut his hair. For the first seven years of my life, Dad had dark curly hair that was like me -- in that he told it first thing in the morning what he wanted it to do and then in went and did pretty much whatever it wanted to do. Anyway, when I was seven, Dad came back from the docks with his hair close shaven and when I saw him walk in the door and kiss my mother on the mouth, I started to cry because I thought he was a stranger. And that's what Skarmouth has done, after dark: It's turned into an entirely different Skarmouth from the one I've known my whole life, and I don't feel like letting it kiss me on the mouth anytime soon."
But then, sometimes, the story moves so quickly and powerfully, I forget that I want to underline or sticky-note anything. I just read, gobbling up the words on the page, running the races with the characters beside me. There are times I can't put the book down, even though I need to!
The best thing about this book is that it doesn't let up. The author keeps the reader guessing right up until the end. The denouement is perfectly written -- we don't feel let down after the race ends. We feel the need to know more! And the author gives us just enough more at the end that the reader feels satisfied at the end of the story.
Chapter 65 is the best denouement chapter I've read in a long time. And it's not even the last chapter of the book! I'd like to share the entire chapter with you, but I think I'll just share this tidbit:
"I stand up, leaving the notes sitting untouched on the table, and head out into the yard. The breeze runs long and low across the ground, sweeping up the sea and the island grass and the hay and the horses. I think it's the best smell in the world."
If you pick up no other books this next year, please try this book!
