Filled with lush language and delightful sensory details like the
savored warmth of a velvet cloak, this marvelous story will keep
readers absorbed throughout. While the intricate storytelling,
captivating characters and evocative setting owe a great deal to
Dickens, the book also feels very much in the tradition of such
grand 20th-century writers as Joan Aiken and Elizabeth Goudge.
Filled with heart-pounding and heart-rending moments, this
delicious, glorious novel is the work of a master of children’s
literature.
—New York Times
Newbery Medalist Schlitz delivers many pleasures—fully dimensional
children, period details so ripe one can nearly smell them, and
droll humor that leavens a few scenes of true horror. A highly
original tale about children caught in a harrowing world of magic
and misdeeds.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A brooding Dickensian novel with a touch of fantasy and a glimmer
of hope. . . Vividly portrayed and complex, the characters are well
defined individuals whose separate strands of story are colorful
and compelling. Schlitz weaves them into an intricate tapestry that
is as mysterious and timeless as a fairy tale.
—Booklist (starred review)
Middle-schoolers not quite ready for Erin Morgenstern’s The Night
Circus can revel in this lusciously atmospheric title of rival
magicians and the children caught in their crossfire.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)
Two orphans, a witch and a girl who laughs at death: Each shares
the lens of protagonist in Newbery-winner Schlitz’s fully
satisfying gothic novel...Schlitz’s prose is perfect in every
stitch, and readers will savor each word.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Victorian London could be a magical place: horse-drawn carriages,
puppet shows, elaborate upper-class houses. Of course it could also
be miserable: fog, filthy streets, shabby hovels where too many
people live in too few rooms. Schlitz conjures both the magic and
the mundane here. . . .Schlitz uses such evocative language that
readers will practically smell dirty London and then be relieved by
the crisp, cold air in the countryside around the witch’s crumbling
mansion. The characters are recognizable tropes: the witch is
rotting from the inside out; the orphans may be dirty and ill-bred,
but they have spirit and pluck; the little rich girl is actually
sad and lonely; the skinny puppeteer and the overly dramatic
landlady are recognizably Dickensian. Yet, they are so well drawn
that they are never caricatures, but people whom readers will cheer
for, be terrified of, or grow to like. The plot is rich with
supernatural and incredibly suspenseful elements. Fans of mystery,
magic, and historical fiction will all relish this novel.
—School Library Journal (starred review)
In this not-quite-parody novel Schlitz takes the conventions of
melodrama and fleshes them out with toothsome scene setting and
surprising, original character details. The two heroes are fine
foils for each other, the Victorian-good Lizzie Rose versus the
street-pragmatic Parsefall. Grisini, with his back story in Venice,
is pure moustache-twirling evil, and Cassandra is an intriguing
portrait of bitter, regretful old age and bone-deep malevolence. .
. Rich and lively.
—The Horn Book
Few books can be called both delightful and eerie - this novel is
one. Utterly transporting.
—Rebecca Stead, Newbery Medal Winner
Settle down; prepare for mesmerism: Laura Amy Schlitz is behind the
curtain, ready to show us a story that has real magic lacing
through it.
—Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and What the Dickens: The Story
of a Rogue Tooth Fairy
Thrilling and masterful. The characters are real humans, trapped
upon the page as if by magic. The plotting is relentless . . . and
then resolves into a perfect crystal. The book is beautiful. You
will bark with laughter and you will cry. I did.
—Adam Gidwitz, author of A Tale Dark and Grimm
A wonderfully twisty, creepy melodrama with three heroes to love,
two villains to hate, and then at the end — but I won't tell,
except to say it's totally satisfying.
—Nancy Werlin, National Book Award finalist and Edgar Award
winner
A pageturner to be reckoned with for years to come. Give SPLENDORS
AND GLOOMS to…kids who want a terrific, meaty mystery.
—James Patterson
A hauntingly claustrophobic tale set in an 1860 London enveloped in
thick fog and a dilapidated estate in England's lake district....
Like a master puppeteer, Schlitz manipulates her characters with
agility and skill to a thrilling climax.
—Shelf Awareness
A real delight... If you’re looking for something dark and
mysterious but with a good strong heart, this is the book for
you.
—A Fuse #8 Production (SLJ blog)
[A] superb gothic novel…Vivid and strange, this latest work by Ms.
Schlitz—a Newbery Medal-winner—is, like a marionette show that the
orphans see one night, a spectacle “sharp-edged, exquisite, and
eerily alive."
—Wall Street Journal
This thrilling Dickensian novel weaves a tale of sorcery and magic
that will mesmerize with its intricate plot and wicked but
endearing characters.
—Instructor
As the author unravels the mystery, she explores the many levels on
which the characters themselves serve as puppets. Schlitz proves
herself a master storyteller as she skillfully maneuvers the
strings of this gothic tale right up to the astonishing climax.
—Shelf Awareness for Readers
This glorious novel by Schlitz, a past Newbery Award winner, is
filled with lush language and Victorian atmosphere.
—New York Times Best Sellers List Editor's Choice
Besides the rich language, setting and plot, SPLENDORS AND GLOOMS
features an utterly delicious story that weaves its spell through
the fortunes of innocent and not-so-innocent children, the
cadaverous puppet master, a dying witch eager for revenge and
dramatic action in a castle tower that will have readers as
entranced as Grisini’s audiences.
—BookPage
This delightfully enchanting book is perfect for nestling in to a
comfortable chair with now that the days grow shorter and
temperatures dip.
—BookBrowse
It is exceedingly rare to find an author who hits it out of the
park, so to speak, every single time she writes. Ms. Schlitz has
written six published works for children and not one has been
anything but remarkable. As adept at fairy stories as fairytales,
at straight biographies or melodramatic ghost stories, at long last
we see what she can do with a Dickensian setting. Result: She does
wonders. Wonders and splendors with just a hint of gloom. The sole
downside is sitting and waiting for her next book. If it’s half as
good as this one, it’ll be worth the wait.
—Fuse #8 Production (SLJ blog)
What more can a reader ask? . . . dazzling . . . a brilliant story
well told.
—New York Journal of Books
The book builds slowly and ends stunningly.
—Chicago Tribune
Ask a Question About this Product More... |