Of Salt and Shore by Annet Schaap
2020; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 74; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.2020.0712
ISSN1558-6766
Autores Tópico(s)Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies
ResumoReviewed by: Of Salt and Shore by Annet Schaap Fiona Hartley-Kroeger Schaap, Annet Of Salt and Shore; tr. from the Dutch by Laura Watkinson; written and illus. by Annet Schaap. Charlesbridge, 2020 [352p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781623542306 $16.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781632899989 $8.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 5-7 When Lampie and her drunken father's negligence of their lighthouse duties leads to a shipwreck, locals lock her father in the lighthouse and indenture Lampie at the mysterious Black House to work off the cost of the lost ship. Despite the warnings of housekeeper Martha, Lampie dares the house's stinking, ominous tower room to find and eventually befriend the Admiral's secret merman son, a half-feral boy named Edward (Lampie dubs him Fish). With help from Martha's sweet neurodiverse son Lenny, handyman Nick, a traveling sideshow, and last-minute pirates, Lampie helps Fish embrace his merman nature instead of trying to be human to please his exacting, emotionally withholding father. While some emotional resolution is missing for both Lampie and Fish in this Dutch import, the various points of view are highly effective, especially Fish's earliest chapters when he is starving and furious. Watkinson's translation flows easily, balancing momentum and present-tense narration with an almost folksy tone. Schaap's illustrator chops are on display in five full-spread section breaks, where tightly sketched figures move through or contemplate vast, ink-washed landscapes and cavernous spaces. This would pair well with Potter's The Kneebone Boy (BCCB 10/10) in its combination of bittersweet whimsy, serious undertones, and gothic mystery delights. Copyright © 2020 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
Referência(s)