Blue Window
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Five siblings fall through time and space into a strange, unkind world — their arrival mysteriously foretold — and land in the center of an epic civil struggle in a country where many citizens have given themselves over to their primal fears and animal passions at the urging of a power-hungry demagogue. When siblings Susan, Max, Nell, Kate, and Jean tumble one by one through a glowing cobalt window, they find themselves outside their cozy home — and in a completely unfamiliar world where everything looks wrong and nothing makes sense. Soon, an ancient prophecy leads them into battle with mysterious forces that threaten to break the siblings apart even as they try desperately to remain united and find their way home. Thirteen-year-old twins Max and Susan and their younger siblings take turns narrating the events of their story in unique perspectives as each of the children tries to comprehend their stunning predicament — and their extraordinary new powers — in his or her own way. From acclaimed author Adina Rishe Gewirtz comes a riveting novel in the vein of C. S. Lewis and E. Nesbit, full of nuanced questions about morality, family, and the meaning of home.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The style of Gewirtz's fantasy trades on the classic: five siblings fall through a mysterious window into another world and must find their way home; along the way, they meet cryptic characters with names like "the Genius," "the Guide," "Master Watcher," and "Shepherdess." A third-person narrative moves among Susan, Max, Nell, Kate, and Jean as they wander about, confused and frightened, trying to get their bearings in a bleak and frightening world. The siblings stand out for their smooth skin and striking beauty, which endanger them almost constantly. Though the children develop special powers (Susan can summon the wind in times of need, for example), the narrative lacks momentum. The children are unmoored, and even the strange school where Nell learns the dark history of this world isn't an adequate tether to anchor the narrative. The siblings spend the bulk of the book stumbling about, trying to understand where they are and why the people are so strange, moving through a series of events that never quite coalesces into a cohesive fantasy. Ages 10 up.