Author: Libba Bray
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Copyright: 2003
ISBN: 9780385732314
Reading Level/Interest Age: Grade 9 and up
Genre: Paranormal and Horror--Occult
Reader’s Annotation: Gemma starts having visions at the time of her mother's mysterious death. After being shipped off to an English boarding school she finds a diary that entices her and her friends to explore dangerous magic.
Plot Summary
Sixteen-year-old Gemma has spent her whole life in India, but longs for fashionable London. When her mother is killed Gemma has a terrifying vision. She is soon shipped off to boarding school in England, where the visions intensify. She finds a former student’s diary that begins to explain them. But the sexy young man Gemma first saw on the day her mother died has followed her from India. He claims to be the representative of a secretive society and orders Gemma to control her visions and refrain from using her emerging powers.
At the same time, Gemma must find her place in the school’s pecking order. The two queens of the mean girls, daring Felicity and beautiful Pippa, at first torment Gemma and her charity-case roommate, Ann. But when they find out about the diary, and eventually about Gemma’s powers, the four girls band together to escape the restrictions of Victorian society and explore the magical Realms that Gemma learns to access. The girls know the magic they are dabbling in is treacherous, but become addicted to its power. Danger draws near from several directions. A malevolent being is searching for Gemma in the Realms; Felicity’s reputation is close to ruin; and the romantic Pippa is engaged to a rich but horrible suitor. When the girls try to use the magic of the Realms to influence their lives in the real world, the situation spirals out of control.
Critical Evaluation
This novel’s gothic feel is its greatest asset. The mood is dark and scary, and the intoxication that the girls feel with power and danger is strongly evoked. There are some steamy scenes, though all the girls remain technically “pure.” Characterization is also strong. Felicity, especially, is as fascinating to the reader as she is to Gemma. Felicity is the wildest of the girls. She can be cruel, but also fiercely loving. Though she admires both her heroic father and scandalous mother, she hates them for forgetting about her.
The language feels a little off. It’s not exactly period, but not exactly modern, either. Take this passage, for instance:
“‘I think you shall be very happy here, Miss Doyle.’
Translation: That is an order.
‘Spence has turned out many wonderful young women who’ve gone on to make very good marriages.’
We don’t expect much more from you. Please don’t embarrass us.
‘Why, you might even be sitting here in my position someday.’
If you turn out to be completely unmarriageable, and you don’t end up in an Austrian convent making lace nightgowns.”
As above, the shalls sound forced, and Gemma’s narration has a much more modern tone than the dialog does.
The plot has some holes and contrivances, such as the gradual doling out of information from the diary. Realistically, Gemma would read the whole thing as soon as she discovered it had something to do with her visions, but that would have unraveled the mystery too quickly. Also, the rules of the fantasy world are not well established, which is one of my pet peeves. For example, who is Pippa’s knight—a creation of the Realms? If he’s not really a person who wants to woo her, but just a magical construct sent to play out her fantasies, how can he make her happy? There are several loose ends left at the end, but they are presumably dealt with in the two books that follow.
Curriculum Ties: History--Victorian era
Booktalking Ideas: Read pages 86 and 87, from "What frightens you? What makes the hair on your arms rise, your palms sweat, the breath catch in your chest like a wild thing caged?"
Challenge Issues: Occult content, sexual content
In the defense file, I will include my library's selection policy, ALA's Library Bill of Rights, ALA's guidelines on free access to libraries for minors (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/freeaccesslibraries.cfm), and ALA's strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm). I will also include my library's reconsideration form, in case challenges to this book cannot be defused with "tea and sympathy." I will pull positive reviews from Booklist, Children's Literature, and Kliatt, along with a negative review (that expresses disapproval of the novel's dark worldview) from The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews.
About the Author
The Straight-from-the-Author-Herself Version
What is it about writing an author bio that gives me that deer-in-headlights feeling? It's not exactly like I'm going to say "I was born in Alabama…" and somebody's going to jump up and snarl, "Oh yeah? Prove it!" At least I hope not.
I think what gets me feeling itchy is all that emphasis on the facts of a life, while all the juicy, relevant, human oddity stuff gets left on the cutting room floor. I could tell you the facts–I lived in Texas for most of my life; I live in New York City with my husband and six-year-old son now; I have freckles and a lopsided smile; I'm allergic to penicillin.
But that doesn't really give you much insight into me. That doesn't tell you that I stuck a bead up my nose while watching TV when I was four and thought I'd have to go to the ER and have it cut out. Or that I once sang a punk version of "Que Sera Sera" onstage in New York City. Or that I made everyone call me "Bert" in ninth grade for no reason that I can think of. See what I mean?
The Haiku Version
I grew up dorky,
With home perms and Led Zeppelin.
You ask why I write?
The No-Frills Version
Libba Bray was born in Alabama but moved to Texas soon after. She went to jr. high, high school, and college there. Now she lives in New York City and writes books. When she dies, we will let you know.
http://www.libbabray.com/bio.html
Why is this title included?
A Great and Terrible Beauty is a New York Times Bestseller, YALSA Best Books for Young Adults (2004) pick, and a YALSA Teens' Top Ten (2004) pick. Libba Bray is a rising star of YA literature. Her novel Going Bovine won the 2010 Printz Award.