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A Song for Ella Grey

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A Song for Ella Grey

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Overview

Written in lyrical prose, this novel for fans of epic romances and mythology retellings explores themes of love, loss, fate, and destiny set against the dramatic and diverse backdrop of Northern England.

David Almond, recipient of the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award, a Printz Honor for Skellig, and the Printz Award for Kit’s Wilderness, has crafted an enchanting modern take on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.

    Claire and Ella and their friends are bound by ties so strong they seem unbreakable. Then the strange and handsome Orpheus strolls onto the beach, and he sings them all into an astonishing new understanding of themselves. Ella is caught the hardest, fastest, deepest—and Claire is left with the pain of looking on.

   Raw, emotional, lyrical, funny, and true, A Song for Ella Grey is a tale of the joys, troubles, and desires of modern teens. It takes place in the ordinary streets of Tyneside and on the beautiful beaches of Northumberland. It’s a story of first love, a love song that draws on ancient mythical forces. A love that leads Ella, Orpheus, and Claire to the gates of Death and beyond.

Winner of The Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize

A PW Best Book of 2015

"Almond's lyrical narrative will sweep readers on a journey to unearthly, mysterious realms and back."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Innovative and dreamlike . . . and told in Almond's lyrical, distinctive prose. Teen readers of a literary bent and mythology enthusiasts will love this latest work."—School Library Journal, Starred Review

"Almond brings his hypnotic lyricism to this darkly romantic tale that sings of the madness of youth, the ache of love, and the near-impossibility of grasping death."—Kirkus Reviews

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About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780553533613
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	10/13/2015
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

DAVID ALMOND grew up in a large family in northeastern England and says, “The place and the people have given me many of my stories.” His first novel for children, Skellig, was a Michael L. Printz Honor Book and an ALA-ALSC Notable Children’s Book and appeared on many Best Book of the Year lists. He wrote My Name is Mina, the prequel to Skellig. His novel, Kit’s Wilderness, won the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. David Almond is a recipient of the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award. He lives in England. Visit him online at davidalmond.com and on Facebook and follow him @davidjalmond on Twitter.

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★ 07/27/2015
Almond (The Tightrope Walkers) gracefully interfuses ancient archetypes with contemporary situations in this retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth. Set in northern England—a landscape familiar to Almond’s fans—the novel is told from the point of view of Claire, a restless high school student, whose dreams and imagination reach beyond the confines of her cold, dreary surroundings. “I wanted to experience that thing of being just me, moving on my own across the earth,” she laments. During a much-anticipated trip to the beach with some close friends, Claire is enchanted by Orpheus, a wandering musician whose beauty and skills with the lyre seem otherworldly. When Claire’s best friend Ella instantly falls in love with this stranger, Claire has misgivings; after it becomes apparent that Orpheus is just as smitten with Ella, Claire agrees to help them secretly elope, not knowing the height of wonder and depth of despair that will follow. Like Orpheus’s music, Almond’s lyrical narrative will sweep readers on a journey to unearthly, mysterious realms and back. Mythological characters come to life while remaining enigmatic enough to set imaginations spinning. Ages 12–up. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Almond's lyrical narrative will sweep readers on a journey to unearthly, mysterious realms and back."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“Innovative and dreamlike . . . and told in Almond's distinctive prose. Teen readers of a literary bent and mythology enthusiasts will love this latest work.”—School Library Journal, Starred Review

"Almond brings his hypnotic lyricism to this darkly romantic tale that sings of the madness of youth, the ache of love, and the near-impossibility of grasping death."—Kirkus Reviews

". . . captures the heady rush of reckless youth. Readers will likely be transfixed by this rhapsodic modern telling of a classic tragedy."—Booklist

"Almond's . . . prose seeps into your blood like word venom until you can't imagine reading anything else."—The Times (London)

"David Almond's books are strange, unsettling wild things—unfettered by the normal constraints of children's literature, beyond classification."—The Guardian

"Printz Award-winner Almond delivers another haunting, intricately-woven piece of literature."—VOYA

"The evocation of the desperate immediacy of adolescence itself . . . is artfully rendered."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"An ode to the mad joy of youth, mortality and love."—Shelf Awareness

From the Publisher

★ 09/01/2015
Gr 9 Up—An innovative and dreamlike retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, set in modern-day Tyneside and Northumberland and told in Almond's lyrical, distinctive prose. Narrator Claire has a passionate relationship with Ella, whom she has known since they were five years old. They are part of a "beautiful friendship group" of like-minded teenagers who gather to share their dreams and artistic efforts. When the mysterious musician Orpheus appears on the beach, the teens, as well as all the local wildlife, are enchanted by his weird and lovely music, but the one most enamored of Orpheus and his music is Ella, who hears him over Claire's cell phone. Ella and Orpheus fall in love and marry, but Ella dies of a snakebite on their wedding day. The novel follows the original myth fairly closely as Orpheus goes through river gates into an underworld where he encounters monsters and the rulers of the underworld. This is an impressive update of this often retold story, with artsy teenage characters and a lovingly detailed Northumbrian setting. Some parts, such as Orpheus's death at the hands of crazed women emerging from the sea and references to his male lovers, will resonate more strongly with readers familiar with the original myth. VERDICT Teen readers of a literary bent and mythology enthusiasts will love this latest work from Almond.—Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ

School Library Journal

2015-07-27
Award-winning British novelist Almond (Kit's Wilderness, 1999; The Fire-Eaters, 2004, etc.) mines the tragic Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in this modern-day love story, told in the voice of Claire Wilkinson, a 17-year-old poet. Claire loves her childhood friend Ella Grey, and they are "young and bright and free" with their kisses and sleepovers until…"Ha!" Everything changes one spring day when Claire encounters Orpheus, a wild, black-haired, lyre-playing wanderer in a purple coat and Doc Martens, on Northumberland's Bamburgh Beach. Claire calls Ella on her cellphone from the boozy bacchanalian beach party so her friend can hear the mesmerizing songs that Orpheus plays, enchanting the dolphins, the sea, even the pebbles and sand…and soon wishes she hadn't. When Orpheus sings for Ella Grey, she falls madly in love with him, sight unseen. "Go to Hell, Orpheus," Claire whispers. The rest of the tale mirrors the myth: Ella and Orpheus marry, Ella dies by snakebite, and Orpheus enters the beastly Underworld to rescue her from Death, a section of the book effectively distinguished by black paper with white type. Almond brings his hypnotic lyricism to this darkly romantic tale that sings of the madness of youth, the ache of love, and the near-impossibility of grasping death. (Fiction. 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews

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