After Hamelin FROM THE PUBLISHER
Implicit in many folk and fairy tales is the question, 'Then what?'
After Hamelin picks up the story where the Robert Browning poem -- or other tellings of The Pied Piper of Hamelin -- leaves off. In a quest that is both contemporary and timeless, Richardson creates a magical world through inventive wordplay, uninhibited imagination and a facility with rhyme. Here is a raconteur who spins a narrative tale that takes readers into strange lands inhabited by unusual characters, both good and evil, where adventure abounds and unlikely saviors emerge.
Penelope is 101 years old, but she can remember the story like it happened yesterday. On the morning of her eleventh birthday, she wakes to discover she can no longer hear. It is on this same day that the Piper returns to Hamelin to spirit the children away in an evil act of revenge upon the townspeople. Spared because she is deaf to the Piper's bewitching tune, Penelope is left to grieve the loss of her friends and beloved sister Sophy until Cuthbert, the wise man of the village, reveals that Penelope possesses the unusual gift of deep dreaming. Armed only with a charm from Cuthbert and her own courage, Penelope enters the land of sleep on a treacherous quest to rescue the stolen children.
There is suspense, humor and high excitement (wrapped in dark undercurrents) as Penelope and the companions she meets along the way -- Scally, her trusted cat; Alloway, the blind harpist; Ulysses, a three-legged dog; and Quentin, a dragon who loves skipping -- journey to the Piper's mountain fortress. Their combined wits and talents see them through strange landscapes and close calls. In a thrilling climax played out in a mysterious place between dreaming and waking, they triumph over the Piper and set the children of Hamelin free.
FROM THE CRITICS
Timothy Capehart - Voice of Youth Advocates, April 2001
The writing is detailed and lively, peppered with rope-rhymes and songs ... excellent fantasy.
Napra Review
Delightful and thoughtful ... This intriguing tale invents a complete and believable alternative world.
Anne O'Malley
Blending aspects of classical myth and literary fantasy, the tale builds to a fine resolution and casts a hypnotic spell.
Publishers Weekly
Featuring a wild and unpredictable dreamscape, this surrealistic tale begins 90 years after the Pied Piper of Hamelin's tale ends. Penelope, at age 101, is the only villager old enough to remember the events, and she records her account of what really happened to her town's children. She begins with her 11th birthday, marked by three significant occurrences. First she is mysteriously struck deaf. Then she watches helplessly as the piper lures her older sister and friends out of the city with an enchanting melody (her deafness spares her from the same fate). Next a mysterious town elder informs Penelope that she alone can rescue the children by journeying to a magic land that can be entered only through dreams. After falling into a deep sleep, Penelope embarks on her dangerous mission and, with the aid of a talking cat, a featherless snowbird and a rope-skipping dragon, she sets out to find the piper and his imprisoned victims. First-time YA novelist Richardson provides an effective framework for his narrative, juxtaposing the poetic musings of 101-year-old Penelope against the childhood adventure she meticulously recalls. Penelope emerges as a far more convincing character than her traveling companions, whose bizarre traits and talents seem too neatly tailored to advance the plot. If the events are somewhat convoluted and unevenly paced, Penelope's wise, sometimes bitter voice remains fresh and provocative. Ages 10-13. (Jan.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
VOYA
Narrating from the vantage point of her 101st year, Penelope recounts the events that followed the abduction of the children in the town of Hamelin. Penelope awoke unable to hear on the morning of her eleventh birthday. That was also the morning that the Piper returned to pipe the children away because his payment for ridding the town of rats was not forthcoming. Penelope is spared, and the town's Wiseman, Cuthbert, tells her that she is the only one who can save the other children. She has the talent for Deep Dreaming, which enables her to cross the borders between the waking and dreaming worlds at will. Despite her parents' fears, Penelope sets off, and as she makes her way toward the Piper's lair, she is joined by her talking cat, the singing Trolavaian, and a rope-skipping dragon. The Piper is more than he seems to be, and Penelope discovers that she and her friends are also. This quest story harbors echoes of both Oz and Wonderland, with touches of their humor and a good helping of their darkness. The supporting characters, like those in many fairy tales, are not warts-and-all, three-dimensional creatures; however, Penelope, her mentor Cuthbert, and her smart-aleck cat, Scallywaggle are. The writing is detailed and lively, peppered with rope-rhymes and songs. A nearly last-minute narrative switch from addressing the reader to addressing a specific person in the time of centenarian Penelope feels a little forced. Nevertheless this excellent fantasy should be placed in the hands of Donna Jo Napoli fans or, for that matter, fans of Gregory Maguire's adult fantasy, Trade pb. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P J S (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High,defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2000, Annick Press, 144p, . Ages 13 to 18. Reviewer: Timothy Capehart SOURCE: VOYA, April 2001 (Vol. 24, No.1)
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