Richie's Picks: Great Books for Children and Young Adults

Problems?
Ideas?
Suggestions?
Please email BudNotBuddy@aol.com

Thank You!

"He dragged Jack to the campfire and selected a knife for him to carry. 'This is for your protection. You're not to join in the fight,' Olaf said.
" 'Don't worry,' said Jack.
" 'I know how exciting pillaging is,' the giant said fondly, ruffling Jack's hair. It felt like a blow. 'No matter how much you're tempted, just say no.'
" 'Just say no to pillaging. You got it.' "

Despite reading some of her consistently award-winning tales, many of you may not be aware of how funny Nancy Farmer can be. But for those who have gotten to spend any time around her it's no surprise to encounter all sorts of terrific humor in her fabulous, fantastical new adventure, THE SEA OF TROLLS. And for anyone who has read Gordon Korman's SON OF THE MOB, with all of Vince's so-called "uncles" bearing wacky names, you'll understand why that book comes to mind as Nancy Farmer introduces us to the likes of Ivar the Boneless, Einar the Ear-Hoarder, Pig Face, Dirty Pants, Eric Pretty-Face, Eric the Rash, and Magnus the Mauler.

"They traveled all day, with breaks to let the oarsmen rest. The sky remained gray, but the clouds lifted enough for Jack to see land far to the left. At one point they passed an island that trailed plumes of smoke. Was that the Holy Isle? It was too hazy to tell. "At one point the rowers halted, and Olaf One-Brow passed out smoked fish, cheese, and a kind of flatbread Jack had never seen before. He thought it delicious until he realized it had been stolen from some poor village. Olaf found a pot of honey and smeared it on the bread for Lucy. No one else got this treat.
" 'Litla valkyrja,' the giant rumbled, tousling Lucy's hair.
" 'Princess,' corrected Lucy. They smiled at each other.
" 'Pest.' said the boy at the oar.
"Jack studied him. Thorgil was handsome, in a sullen way. His eyes were blue, and his hair would have been as golden as Lucy's if it hadn't been so dirty. The berserkers were all filthy, Jack realized. Their boots smelled like carrion, and their sheepskins reeked of sweat. Lucy, in her sky blue dress, looked like a flower dropped into a pigsty."

Eleven-year-old Jack, who had been happily apprenticing with The Bard, and Jack's five-year-old sister, Lucy, are captured and enslaved by the Northmen and head off in their custody to destinations unknown. The Holy Isle that Jack sees through the haze is Lindisfarne. The Holy Isle's destruction in A.D. 793, which marked the onset of two hundred years of Viking raids on Great Britain, provides readers with a historic reference point for this year's great epic adventure story.

Farmer packs THE SEA OF TROLLS' 450 pages full of humor, history, mythology, and adventure. This is a deceptively complex story, beyond the mere fact that readers encounter Vikings, trolls, dragons, Beowulf, big-mouth fathers, and all sorts of other good stuff in the same book.

What readers (and Jack) are left to sort out at the end of the odyssey are their feelings about the berserkers--those Northmen invaders with whom Lucy and Jack spend all of that time.

On one hand, the siblings and the berserkers have all become so close to each other as they share stories, meals, and life and death struggles of immense proportion. Through those experiences, and despite their beliefs and customs being so different from his own, Jack has repeatedly seen and felt their humanity. As readers, we come to know and love the violent and smelly Olaf and Thorgil, and their wild and wacky comrades. On the other hand, even as Jack has to steel himself for having to say good-bye to them, he has to recognize (as we also have to) that the berserkers' intent--indeed their need, if their civilization is to survive--is to return to Jack's Britain again and again, robbing and pillaging and enslaving and murdering and partaking in those other activities that my eighth grade science teacher would repeatedly tell us about. "That's why you're genetically all a little bit of everything!" insisted old Mr. Max Krenis in his white lab coat and spectacles.

So how do we as readers feel about the berserkers' need to invade in order to survive?
How would we feel if we were Jack?
How does "Love thine enemies" relate to the story?
How does the Stockholm Syndrome fit in?
How will readers relate all this to our being at war right now, and to the widespread suspicion of all people from that part of the world?

But there's still more to THE SEA OF TROLLS. In fact, there is a whole 'nother story before Olaf One-Brow and his homies even show up in Britain the first time. The tale begins with Jack and Lucy, their family, and the Bard.

Jack's a bright kid with an overbearing father who dotes on little Lucy. The Bard is a mysterious old guy who showed up a couple of years earlier, moved into the ancient Roman house overlooking the sea, and is provided for by the community. One day when Jack is delivering provisions to the Bard, he invites Jack back for lunch.

" 'Come in!' cried the Bard as Jack stood nervously in the doorway. The boy looked around for an empty bucket or depleted woodpile to justify his presence. Everything seemed in order.
" 'I didn't ask you here to work,' said the Bard, making Jack flinch. Could the man read minds, too?
"Between the mouthfuls of cheese, bread, and cider that made up their lunch, the Bard quizzed Jack about things so ordinary, they hardly seemed worth mentioning. How did water sound when it rushed over grass? How did it sound oozing through a bog? How did the wind change its music as it passed from the river reeds to the foxtail grasses of the meadow? Could Jack tell the difference between a lark and a swallow high in the clouds?
"Of course he could, Jack said. Everyone could, by the way the birds dipped their wings.
" 'Not so,' said the Bard. 'Very few people see beyond the ends of their noses. Another piece of cheese?'
"Jack ate more than his share and felt rather guilty about it. He rarely got enough to feel satisfied.
" 'In my opinion, you aren't a total waste of time,' said the Bard. 'Don't let that go to your head, boy. You could easily be a partial waste of time. How'd you like to be my apprentice?'
"Jack gaped at him. His brain couldn't grasp the meaning of it. He'd never heard of a bard's apprentice.
" 'That's the first habit we'll have to get rid of,' said the old man, sighing. 'You should look intelligent, even when you aren't. Get along with you now. I'll talk to your father later.' "

The relationship that develops between Jack and the Bard is so heartwarming that I'd be happy to just keep going back and reading the first portion of the book again and again. The old man takes the beaten-down boy and, as he teaches him song, story, nature, and wisdom, he works to make Jack understand what a special kid he really is. And, oh what stories the Bard does tell him.

Then, that time as an apprentice ends for Jack with the arrival of the long ships. And the real journey begins.

THE SEA OF TROLLS nearly defies categorization, there are so many sides to it. And I couldn't begin to recount what Shari tried to explain to me about all of Nancy Farmer's allusions to traditional mythologies. But the humor, the excitement and danger, the history, and the characters who are real enough to cause you to really mourn the end of the book make THE SEA OF TROLLS the latest success in the career of one of the great storytellers of our time.

Richie Partington
http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com